Hurricane Rita is headed north and east now and that puts me on the west (the good) side. I do not live in Houston proper. I am on the far southwest side in an unincorporated area of Fort Bend county, so I am not even in Harris county. We are expected to get rain and tropical storm force winds here (40-60 mph with gusts to 70). My area did not flood during tropical storm Allison which caused widespread flooding in Houston and surrounding areas. The traffic and lack of available gas became an issue for me. People were only moving 6 miles per hour and many people got stranded on the side of the road without gas. It was taking people 30+ hours to get from Houston to Dallas and now many of the folks that did not make it due to lack of gas are stranded on I45 where the worst part of the storm for us is expected to blow through. I decided to stay here and shelter in place. My friend Cynthia and her Bichon, Bob and cat, Sy are coming to stay with us. She lives in an area that is prone to flooding. I really believe that we are going to be fine here. We have lots of supplies, plenty of water and I have filled both bathtubs (on is an extra large garden tub) and the washer with water. I have taped the windows and put away all the outside furniture and stuff. I have lived in the Houston and Texas gulf coast area most of my life and have been through many hurricanes and tropical storms. If the storm was still expected to hit us of south and west of us, believe me, I would have been outta here. I would appreciate any and all prayers and rays just to be on the safe side. I also will not leave my pups here even if we are forced to leave on foot. I have a plan in place how to carry them all. I have a pet pouch back pack, a sherpa and an other pet carrier and I will walk out of here with them all strapped to me. I don't believe it will come to that. We have an area of the house with no windows that we can take shelter in if the winds get too bad. From all accounts, we should not have a really bad time of it where I am. I really want to thank everyone one for their kind thoughts and offers, especially Barb. I will keep you all posted as well as possible. Well, I have better finish battening down my hatches. You guys are the best! Thanks!!!! :toothy2:
Hey Nikki,
After sitting through two hurricanes last year, in about the same position as you are from them, I agree that you are probably better off staying where you are. With the way the traffic looks on the news, you would probably be sitting in traffic when it hits. It sounds like you have everything planned out and under control. Be careful, stay inside and we will be thinking of you.
:toothy2:
Ncki, stay safe and email or call as soon as you can. I will send you my cell and will post for you if you can't get through. We are praying for you to all be safe.
I saw that the storm moved east. 40-60 MPH winds are not fun, but I think you will get through it alright. I hear the traffic out of Houston is just awful. Yesterday my coworker's daughter drove from Houston to Austin, normally a 2 1/2 drive. It took her 22 hours!
The bad thing about the storm moving east is that the one of New Orleans levees broke and the city flooded again.
Stay safe, Nikki. I'll be thinking about you. You're right, you're better off at home that on the road - especially since Rita veered off to the east of you. Glad you will be going throught this with a friend.
Stay safe! We'll be thinking about you tonight & tomorrow.
Ditto all the above we'll be thinking of you all .
Stay safe my friend. I'll be keeping you and the puppers in my prayers. Stay safe!