Rita just went Cat 5!

[Planogirl]

House is boarded up, just finished. Next we have to pack the vehicles and then its time to get out north to College Station where my son is at Texas A&M. We were going to ride it out here but the prospect of a cat 5 is just to much. Now comes the hard part, what do you take? There is so much of our life here and we want to take it all but know we can't.

I used to wonder about that when we lived south of Houston. I can't imagine narrowing it down.

When Lousiana evacuated, I saw a few U-Haul trucks and trailers and that would probably be the way to go. I bet that they're all rented out now though.

As for time, I'd leave at 3:00 AM and bring a cooler of drinks. It might be a long trip.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Drive carefully everyone. I am glad to hear so many are leaving as this storm is a big one! As soon as possible let us know your ok and if we can help with something after the storm. May God Bless you with peace and safety.

 

[kc73]

For anyone that might be driving north on I-45, I heard on the news that Dallas is setting up a Hurricane Help Center effective tomorrow morning. If you or anyone that you might know of are traveling north & still need a place to stay, you can call this help center & they will assist evacuees in finding a hotel/motel. The number is a 214 # and will be flashing on the txdot signs coming towards Dallas. Stay safe everyone!

 

[Kim in TN]

Good luck everyone, stay safe!!

 

[bumcat]

It looks like we will also be staying. The highways are a mess but we are further out west so hopefully it wont be too bad.

 

[DemonLlama]

We work in College Station and live a little closer in towards Houston to the south of CS. There is no more bottled water or bread in the stores and the lines at the pumps are growing long with 48 hours or more before landfall. We are hoping for the best and appreciate the prayers. My mom and dad lived in Clear Lake until this January, so they would have been stuck in the nightmare traffic trying to get to us. I can't imagine 12 hours to Huntsville. It boggles the mind. I drove from Clear Lake to Hunstville almost every weekend my freshman year of college (Sam Houston State University is in Huntsville) and it was about a 90 minute drive, another half hour to Galveston.

 

[bgirldeb]

from the 4a.m. advisory
AT 4 AM CDT...0900Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 24.9 NORTH...LONGITUDE 88.0 WEST OR ABOUT 515 MILES...
830 KM...SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS AND ABOUT 615 MILES... 990
KM...EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS.

RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH...15 KM/HR...
AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24
HOURS.

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE
THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 175 MPH...280 KM/HR...WITH
HIGHER GUSTS. THIS MAKES RITA A POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY
FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN
INTENSITY ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70 MILES...110 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 185 MILES...295 KM.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED
FROM REPORTS BY THE HURRICANE HUNTER IS 897 MB...26.49 INCHES.
THIS MEANS RITA IS THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE IN TERMS OF
PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN.
This is not one to fool with! Be safe everybody.

 

[Big V]

My thoughts and prayers will be with you folks in Texas. Stay safe!

 

[Virgo10]

Weather Underground is saying that they have clocked gusts near the center at 215 mph

That would make this storm like a F4 tornado.

F4 207-260 Devastating damage. Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown away some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated. Trains overturned.

TRAINS OVERTURNED??!! That just boggles my mind.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OK...this is scary...I think I am going shopping today. DH said the gas stations were packed last night.

I am scared for my house. I bet it floods. We will see. I live DOWN THE HILL on a street. CRAP.

Stay safe and get the heck outta there!

 

[sleepy1]

My son who is a student at A&M said yesterday every store that they went to was out of water. I am so glad he is coming home to Lubbock today. He at first thought he and his freinds might ride out the storm since they are more in land but when Gates cancelled classes for Friday they all decided to head home. Now I just wish he would get on the road and I'm hoping the traffic won't be too bad heading north west.

 

[DemonLlama]

I'm watching the Live Houston press conference right now with the mayor.

Here is what is being said:

All roads out and north of Houston are parking lots.

TXDOT is "working" on the traffic situation. (WHY aren't all those lanes heading north right now???)

OK, they are addressing that now. . .

45N will FM 1488 and north to Hwy 79 near Buffalo

Then US 290

Then I 10

will become all lanes north in turn, I-45 will be first this morning to make the switch.

OK, here come the questions from reporters

What do you say to those stuck on the roads?

There will come a time when it is less safe to be on a highway in this storm than in a building. But that time is not now. Get as far out as you can.

Many people sat all night in traffic and have run out of gas only traveling a few miles and most places are out of gas in Houston. So folks are STUCK. Car full of stuff, nowhere to go.

More to follow. . .

 

[Mom2Ashli]

This storm is HUGE and Bad news. Praying for everyone in its path.

My heart goes out to Trappedinbox (Tracy) She is in the Houston Area and is FREAKING out. She has already lost everything in another storm 2 years ago and she is not handling this one well.

That last I heard she didn't have a car and was trying to get someone to take her family out of Houston.

 

[DemonLlama]

There is NO good news about this storm.

Don't wait. The time for warnings is over. GET OUT NOW. It is time for action.

We are asking everyone to help neighbors get out.

There are no shelters being set up in Houston right now because people need to keep going north.

No one should think, "I'll wait because I'm in a high risk area, so they'll open a school as shelter tomorrow." DON'T COUNT ON THAT!

It will be impossible for anyone to get to folks that stay in the evacuation areas after the storm hits.

During the storm when you call 911 there will be no reponse. They will not be able to go anywhere.

There are logistical problems even getting refuel trucks to get more gas into the city.

Phone banks have been established in storm surge areas for senior citizens to call for help getting out.

The transition to I-45 will be in the middle of the freeway to shift cars into the southbound lanes heading north.

The equipment necessary to move the dividers to get cars moved over is already on I-45 for construction, so it should begin immediately.

Expect to have it done this morning. 290 plan is in the works, I-10 will be the haradest to convert and they aren't sure they can get the equipment there but they are working on it.

THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED. It has never happened before on Texas freeways. The evacuation is massive in size.

Airlift capabilities are being looked at (getting people to the airports so they can fly out).

That's the end of the press conference.

I'll post more local news when I hear it for those interested.

 

[DemonLlama]

All the on ramps and exits for the highway rerouting will have to be blocked or erect signage all the way to Buffalo -- I cannot imagine how they will get it done this morning.

Buffalo is, on a 70 MPH drive, about two hours north of downtown Houston. That's a LONG stretch to "fix"!

More than a million people are on these roads out of Houston.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

I just hope they all make it to safety.

 

[DemonLlama]

Callers who are stuck on the road are reporting fights breaking out on the side of the road where people have stalled or ran out of gas, those that have to stop and take their pets to the bathroom, to make their own pit stops, people whose clutches are going out after 8 hours of crawling along all night.

It will be HOT today -- over 100 by this afternoon, so this is going to get much worse.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What are they going to do with these people? What an awful situation.

 

[dturner]

OK...this is scary...I think I am going shopping today. DH said the gas stations were packed last night.

I am scared for my house. I bet it floods. We will see. I live DOWN THE HILL on a street. CRAP.

Stay safe and get the heck outta there!

There were lines out into the street last night for gas here in Lewisville -it was crazy. I went to Walmart and the water was almost gone, people were buying the same things I was - non-perishable food, batteries, flashlights - it was so crazy and surreal.

Everyone prepare and stay safe.

 

[DemonLlama]

DH just called. He had to drive in to College Station to prepare the office for closing (at Texas A&M) and said it wasn't as bad up here yet as we expected (becuase they are all stuck south of us right now!) but those that have made it this far have filled all the gas stations here in our little town and all gas stations to College Station. We will probably run out of gas very soon, as it seems we are the first place folks have found gas since they left Houston.

Many people they are interviewing on TV now who are calling in from the road are getting desperate: they have stayed up all night in crawling traffic, run out of gas, can't find any more, and just keep hearing authorities saying "get out" when they are TRYING. Lots of very angry folks who can't understand why TXDOT didn't get those inbound lanes changed over sooner.