Hurricane RITA - #18 - thread 2

Starting a new thread now that she is officialy a hurricane. Makes it easier for dial-ups too.

Here's where we were: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/545994/#new

Here's NOAA: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Pati

Thanks. We are still getting ready but feel a little more secure this morning. From looking at the high pressure ridge and the way it is moving, I would expect it to move even further South. We wait and see.
trois

Heck of a note, we're all sitting here wishing Rita on Mexico

Sad, Blooms. But all too true.

Trois, glad you are sitting on GO. These storms are fickle and can change directions all too suddenly.
Pati

Trois, yessir...it sure does look like it may go further down our coast. Southern Cal is getting lots of out of season rain right now which is a part of that high pressure system you were talking about. Let's keep our eye on it and hope and pray that if it does hit Texas, that it will only be a cat 1 or 2 and nothing bigger.

Y'all be careful out there. I'm keeping track and am praying everyone stays safe. ... Elaine

Just in from shopping.. checked weather... and just read and saying our Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco urged everyone in the southwest part of the state to prepare to evacuate. We lives in Calasieu parish..(southwest area). So I will wait for DH to come home from work this evening and see what he want to do.. also he get info from his workers .

Rita can keep her winds -- but hope she sheds a little rain over this way.

somewhere in the Katrina forum, some folks, maybe drdon et al, made a brief list of a survial kit. if i find it i will copy/paste here..

pati, will try to relay water heater info to saint, she's not home a tthe moment

newatplants, will do the same with you couch offer. i can imagine getting a room friday night to be impossible!

Tam, if you get in touch with Saint, pls tell her that she, DH and pup are welcome to stay here or at my friend's house Friday night. She has my phone number.
Michelle

new~

Do you have popcorn and marshmallows? :)

fly, yep, sure do!

Rita just upgraded to a Cat 2!

new~

Boy, you really know how to be hospitable. Ever think of setting up a Bed and Breakfast resort?

And, in this case at hand -- hope you don't get any business. :)

WHAT??? It hasn't even gone past Key West yet........sure doesn't look good for traveling through the Gulf!
Pati

Thanks darius~ -- but who needs Rita. Maybe she will be sent South of the Border.

Now, if everyone will dump ice cubes into the Gulf waters, we can cool them down, and Rita will just wither away.

Oh boy the Lower Keys are really going to get it bad. US1 from MM73 to 75 is completely unpassable. The surge has gone over the road. I hope that those that decided to stay fare OK.

Flyboy, that's what I keep telling my hubby. Maybe if they dump a huge load of ice it will cool the waters of. Maybe an iceberg or something like that. LOL

jnana~

You've got it -- by gosh you've got it !!!!

Maybe we could order a BIG iceberg from Alaska or Greenland -- on the web -- and have it lassoed and delivered. WOW.

Cheaper than building roofs and dikes.

Sure hope everybody takes this as seriously as Galveston.

"With the storm still more than 1,000 miles away, the island city of Galveston ordered a voluntary evacuation to start Tuesday, and the Texas National Guard recalled nearly 1,200 members working on the relief effort in Louisiana to prepare"

Pati

When H. Claudette hit here, the landfall was near Port Lavaca, and damage to Victoria (In VCT county) was worse than it was in P. Lavaca. Maybe safe from storm surge, but not from the rain & damaging winds.

The last update put the path just barely south of me... OI!

no mandatory or even suggested evacuations yet....

Maybe this one would work....

Well everyone can rest easy here in SE TX, since I've spent a trillion bucks to be ready for the worst we won't even get rain *G* Wal-Mart was a nasty place to be and frankly I just don't think men have it in em to have handled it. The line in the can meat shelf got pushy and If my Momma hadn't raised me right that 90 year old Granny would have been eatin dirt, although I didn't feel so inclined in the battery section when a 30ish guy went for the last pack of D's he glared but I think I could have taken him!

So here is what we have to "ride" out the storm.

A handcrank TV/Radio/Flashlight (didn't need the TV but it's all they had)
Regular phone (all ours need power)
3- 60 min throw away cell phone battery packs
tons of D, C's and AA's
a pack of replacement bulbs for the flashlights
a rechargeable latern (14 hours per charge)
3 cases of water
extra bag of Iam's
Filled up both tanks with gas in the cars
Filled up both tanks for the gas grill with burner
bought a cheap saucepan cause I'm not usin my good stuff
baby wipes
First Aid stuff (needed a few things for the kit)
Can food
3-30 Gallon rubbermaid containers (1 for food stuff, 1 for all the genelogy info I can't take and 1 for dry blankets etc) these I'll try to put in safe spot in the house
toss away 36 picture camera
tapes for the camcorder (need to do a walkthrough for insurance)

I know I know I overkilled didn't I? *LOL* oh well..just my nature.

Flyboy, maybe they can contact Alaska and do just that. I wonder if they would part with an iceberg. But now seriously, I hope that they evacuate all areas of Texas that can get affected by Rita.

Looks like a giant tooth!

I hope all you guys on the coast are taking this one seriously. best to board up and go a dozen times unnecessarily than stay the one time it matters. It doesn't look as though its going to go away and it seems to think its Texas' turn. It does appear that we are a little more organised than they were for Katrina. Fingers crossed you all stay safe.

ARANES, NOT overkill at all! Your list could be a model of "what-to-have" Good on you!

People are funny. If you get all prepared, or even have to evacuate, and you don't get the storm, you always feel a little angry because you went to so much trouble. That's one reason they have so much trouble getting people to evacuate. I have to admit I'm one of those people...been there, done that!
Pati

This message was edited Sep 20, 2005 2:06 PM

dea, looks perfect. tow it in!

saint, i'm calling you about your water heater etc.

Saint, my friend, you are most definitely set! I bet it was ugly at Wallyworld. Yikes! Please know that you guys are welcome here at newie's place!

fly, you are killin' me. We folks in Texas are a hospitable bunch! And the large ice mass being dropped into the Gulf sounds good to me. Dea picked us a nice one. :)

Yep, the winds are up to 100mph now and the eye looks to be passing just south of Key West. I hope they know how to hunker down real well.

Angel, it does look to be headed your way...somewhere between Galveston and Corpus. Are you stocked up? Take a look at Saint's list (araness) and follow that. She is a great good scout!

Michelle

Dea, that's it. That's what I was thinking. I got that picture awhile ago and had forgotten it.

Stuck at work, and not sure what to do. Everytime I ask a co-worker, they slough it off as a joke. I've never been through this sort of thing before, and really truly honestly don't know if it's a "stay or go" situation. If "go", where to go - what cities, what hotel... I don't have family nearby, like nearly everyone here.. making it more difficult.

So I guess I look for water & gas for the truck, and start digging for any paperwork I might need...

AngelSong pack up a kit like the one in the above post.
Fill up your car and listen to local OFFICIAL advice on Evac.

Oh yeah and hope the jokes on you not your co-workers.
Cause that means you didn't need the stuff.
But "What if......................

Good luck!!!!!!!
Ric

All the co workers have plans that involve going to stay with family, so that's why they act unconcerned. Since I don't have family, I've been asking them all what to do - they keep saying "nothing yet".. bu tthey all have plans & I don't.

DRAT! Also heard it's getting hard to find water... and I"m no fan of canned meat, so I don't really know what to buy at the store... practical, real suggestions, please... so far all I see on the list that I could/would use are batteries for my flashlight, candles, water, and paperwork.. I have baby wipes & a first aid kid in the truck. Need more cat food, but that'll be easy to get (I use Nutro, and not too many folks here spend that much on cat & dog food). Have dog food out th ewazoo (last time I needed cat food, I got mixed up & bought more dog food instead of cat food).

Jennifer, things that do not require anything other than human power to make/eat. Peanut butter and jelly, decent bread, plastic utensils since without power you may not be able to wash them. Several power food type bars, bottled water even if you have to use your own tap water to fill several jugs.

Others will have good suggestions too :)

Peanut butter or cheese crackers (like you find in vending machines), string cheese, pepperoni sticks, beef jerky, mixed nuts -- all will help supply protein. Add individual tubs of pudding, applesauce, canned fruit, granola or breakfast bars, trail mix, juice boxes. Plastic spoons/forks... it's a start. :)

Peanut butter and crackers; granola bars; canned soup is pre-cooked and doesn't need to be reheated if you can stand it cold. :-) Canned fruit, jerky, trail mix... Any snacky stuff will do food-wise. Napkins, paper plates or bowls, and plastic utensils. Lots of bottled water and some of those little powder packs of juice or tea to mix in when you get tired of plain water. Rolls of quarters and laundry detergent. Find a town a ways in on the internet and call around for a motel that will allow you to take your pets (start calling now!) and make a reservation, just in case. You can always cancel it if you end up not needing to go. I'd invite you here, but if Rita turns out to be a category 4 or higher we're going to go to my sister-in-law's house in The Woodlands. It won't flood where we are, but we have some BIG pecan trees overhanging our house and I don't want to be underneath them if they fall or drop some big limbs. If Rita stays smaller than a 4 you are VERY welcome to come here! We're in Northwest Houston. Just d-mail me. My daughters love animals and we have a fenced in back yard for your dog. :-)

~ Marylyn

Hah! TF and I posted at the same time and had a lot of the same stuff on our lists. Great minds... ;-)

If you have canned stuff don't forget a manual tin opener! (done that myself!!!) and nothing that needs warming, chilling or refrigerating before you can eat it - or to store it.
Water is your biggest essential - I think its a gallon a person a day to stay healthy. Unless you are a stick insect to start with the human body can do without food for weeks but without water it disintegrates fast.
Candles and matches, or torches and batteries, to help you find your way about in the dark.
Cages for your pets, not a cardboard cat carrier, a determined and frightened cat can rip those to pieces in seconds.
Wind up radio and spare cell phone battery so you can stay in touch with the world.
Most important though listen to the OFFICIAL advice, and if they say go, then go. Inland, away from the coast and better not in a northerly direction because thats where the storm will go next.
My five penny worth - over to the experts.

Have you tried the pouches of meat like Tyson cooked chick or the chick of the sea tuna (have other brands). They are actually good (better than canned) Don't need a can opener and don't take up a lot of room. Get one of those Shake flash lights that don't need batteries. Just a couple of things I thought about. I also like dried fruit. ... Elaine