Hurricane Rita 10 Years Ago Today - What Were You Doing?

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=102114

 

I had just gotten married 6 days prior. We were on our honeymoon when everyone thought the hurricane was going to hit the Houston area, so we cut the honeymoon short a day and came back to pack our things and leave town once more. Then it didn't really even hit us. It would have been out 10 year anniversary 6 days ago had we not gotten divorced earlier this year.

 

No idea...maybe Hurricane Party?

 

I was on a 15 hour drive (odessey) to my friend's place in Dallas. The greatest traffic jam in the history of mankind.

 

I was at a Slick Willie's downtown drinking Hurricanes and Margaritas. The city was a ghost town the day after we were supposed to have been slammed. I remember finding a Chinese restaurant on Montrose that actually had some food that day. A friend and I were among the first people there, and the owners kept finding and serving more food. As time went on, the crowd began to grow because there was nothing else going on anywhere in the area and people stopped where the crowd was gathering. There was no ordering of food, though. The owners would cook what they had and then announce "I've got three more sweet and sour chickens" and the crowd would applaud. It was a strange scene, to say the least. I also remember it being pretty civilized and orderly.

I wish I had a camera when I was on heading back into downtown from 59 to I-10. There were zero cars on the roads, and I could see miles of interstate. The photo would have been amazing. I'd say I'd get that photo the next time, but the following hurricane has convinced me to leave from now on.

 

I was in Greenville on business, but tried to cut it short and get back into town to ride it out with my family. But, I was too late and I couldn't get a plane back to town. Meanwhile, my brother-in-law, who had just moved to town, freaked out and got in a car with some friends and drove east (the dirty side, mind you, plus the direction Rita ended up going). He got bogged down in all the traffic and ended up spending the night in Jasper. He's black, so I had to explain the significance of Jasper when he got back, though he stayed with a very nice couple and had a nice experience, excepting the hurricane that rolled right over them.

 

Fapping.

 

Drove to Dallas from Houston.

Took me over 24 hours. One of worst experiences of my life.

 

Participating in the largest evacuation in American history.

My wife and I had 2 little kids...5 years and 11 months old...our thought was that we'd stick around for any storm that was Cat 1 or Cat 2...but anything Cat 3 or above, and we'd get out.

Had to close up the office and secure things at home first...but got in the car around 7 or so that night...and got to Dallas at about 8 the next morning. Not good.

Eric Berger had an article about it that I saw on twitter today. When we left the house that night, the sustained winds were at 175 mph. It stayed at Cat 5 for 18 hours! That's nuts.

 

Evacuating Katy.

 

heading to austin for ACL... 9 hrs give or take. eerie car ride to say the least, didn't find gas until bastrop.

 

Went to Brenham to ride it out. Got food poisoning on the drive up because we were snacking on summer sausage and cheese that hadn't been refrigerated in god knows how long.

It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I was dead sick driving a huge POS Chevy Caprice that leaked oil like the Exxon Valdez and no running A/C. Think it took us about 8 hours to get to Brenham.

 

I was stuck in traffic going to Bossier City, LA. It took me 27 hours to get there.

 

Stuck in traffic, dreaming of ...

 

Been through so many TS and Hurricane, I was thinking, really? A co-worker even rented a uhaul to haul all of his stuff out from his apt concerning that it could flood. The apt is north of BW8.

Katrina did a number of people psych.

 

Here's the original thread on the storm for anyone interested: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=101780 . I haven't gone back through and read it recently, but I will when I have a moment.

I can remember after my wife and I made the decision to ride it out (west Houston), and driving to HEB in the morning to get supplies. I'll never forget the fear that hit me right then, as the storm was such a monster that for the first time I was actually afraid for my life.

The rest of my family attempted to evacuate from Deer Park to Austin, but only made it to my house after something like 12 hours on the road (normally a 40 min drive). Our house was packed full of family, including my grandmother with Alzheimers, and my very pregnant sister-in-law. It was a crazy couple of days that I'll never forget.

 

Drove down to CS from Waco to be with family. What a nightmare situation they all went through to get there.

 

I didn't evacuate and was fine. Had fun watching people stuck in traffic though.

 

It was really crazy driving down I-10 on that day or two after people had evacuated but before the storm made landfall. I really wish I had taken some pictures during that time. I drove from I-10/Kirkwood down to The Heights, and saw maybe 2 or 3 cars on the road. It was wild.