I've checked with everyone I can find in Oklahoma and Arkansas, and it's all booked up. Unbelievable.
Where in Houston are you that you feel like your wondering if you'll ever see your house again? I know they are projecting upwards of 110 MPH winds all the way up in Spring if we get a direct hit...but even with winds like that, home damage should be minimal. (Unless a tree lands on your house or a spun off tornado hits you).
Just to make a comparison with the National Hurricane Center's predictions (10 am this morning vs. 4pm this afternoon) It moved up north. Bad News.
I bet Shreveport is filled up with New Orleans folks. But I suppose it never hurts to make a few phone calls...
The hotel situation is insane. There are some in Carlsbad, NM. I have been checking on line and trying to reserve rooms for my family. I have tried the tiniest towns All between Dallas, Lubbock, Odessa, etc. All of the hotels are booked.
I don't have flood insurance, but I am right down the street from the highest point in the city of Houston, so flooding is not an issue. I have good home insurance, but that really isn't the point. I'm in the Heights and I don't EXPECT my house to blow over, but you just don't know.
Wow! Talk about dire... The latest runs of two key computer models, the GFS and GFDL, now indicate that the trough of low pressure that was expected to pick up Rita and pull her rapidly northward through Texas will not be strong enough to do so. Instead, these models forecast that Rita will make landfall near Galveston, penetrate inland between 50 and 200 miles, then slowly drift southwestward for nearly two days, as a high pressure ridge will build in to her north. Finally, a second trough is forecast to lift Rita out of Texas on Tuesday. If this scenario develops, not only will the coast receive catastrophic damage from the storm surge, but interior Texas, including the Dallas/Fort Worth area, might see a deluge of 15 - 30 inches of rain. A huge portion of Texas would be a disaster area. The models are not suggesting this at all, but is also possible that Rita may not make landfall on Saturday as expected, but pull up just short of the Texas coast and pound it for days as it waits for the next trough to pick her up. We'll have to wait for the next set of model runs due out by tomorrow morning to know better. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html
thanks. looks like if we do decide to evac, we'll have to settle on staying at a shelter, or park on a highway shoulder north of here (golden triangle area) for a few hours. hopefully it won't suck for the newborn that'll be with us.
What is a better place to evacuate? Dallas or San Antonio? I have options in both cities, but I think the hurricane is headed north so I want to say San Antonio but you never know.
but is also possible that Rita may not make landfall on Saturday as expected, but pull up just short of the Texas coast and pound it for days as it waits for the next trough to pick her up. This brute aint waiting for some measily *next trough*.
