Hurricane Rita check in and roll call!!

bwaites

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Please check in before the storm if possible so we can get a good roll call.

Please use this thread to let us know you are in the way and where you are.

Please PM or EMail DieselDave or myself with your contact information, -including address and phone numbers, including cell phone if possible.

If we can get people before the storm, it will be easier than trying to track you down after, as we learned from Katrina.



Bobsiculous--Northeast Houston is location. Need contact info, unless DieselDave has it.

AlexGT--Near Westheimer and Voss. I have contact info.

Lighthound--Houston? No contact info.

PlayBoyJoeSchmoe--Shepherd, TX 75 miles inland from Houston. I have contact info. Staying in place.

Torchman--Houston proper, in the Heights area. I have contact info.

TimeTraveller--Sugarland, SW of Houston. Staying in place. Need contact info.

Bill
 
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AlexGT

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Near Westheimer and Voss, hopefully it won't flood here, already prepared all that I can and pray to God for the best.

AlexGT

Can someone make this thread a sticky?
 
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PlayboyJoeShmoe

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PM sent to Bwaites...

I'm in Shepherd, TX which is some 75 miles from Downtown Houston. My main fears are: This is a modular (mobile) structure. I fear heavy winds might take it apart. But I fear more a tree falling upon it!

If we didn't have 11 or more people coming from Houston area to ride it out here, I'd bug out. As is we have plenty of stuff, a generator which can run our waterwell etc.

Probably nothing bad will happen... but chance favors the prepared!
 

bwaites

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At 75 miles inland the winds should have dropped into the 60-75MPH range at most, still really strong, but hopefully not enough to uproot trees. If you have trees you can trim to avoid falls of big limbs it would make sense to trim them.

Keep us informed!!

Bill
 

TorchMan

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I'm in Houston, about a two miles from downtown. I just got home. My boss sent me to Alvin and Manvel to collect money from the video game in washaterias there. It's usually something he does on Wed. I left there at about one p.m. I got home at seven thirty p.m. LE would not let me on 288 from 6. I had to take the most circuitous route ever. People were putting out lawn chairs in the left turn lane farther down 6, and even on the shoulder roads. People were peeing besides their cars. And not just the men...

I gotta check in with some relatives, eat some grub and do a few things, then I'll come back here. It's like something out of a disaster movie, I've never seen more animal carriers and trailers.

I just spent over six hours in bumper to bumper traffic that was so bad cars had to wait for the ones at the end of the intersection to move before they could advance through the lights. Only place LE was directing was on at 288, that I passed.
 

DieselDave

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I don't have any PM's or e-mails yet. Come on folks, let me know how to contact you. Anyone living from Corpus east to the TX., LA line and even a little east of there needs to check in and give me contact info.

PM me or e-mail me. If you are evacuating to San Antonio I can give you contact info. of some family of mine that should be able to point you in the right direction to get help.

I'm told there are no hotel rooms in SA., Waco or Dallas. I'm hearing OK. or West Texas is where people are trying to find rooms now. I'm sure SA will have shelters open.

Don't wait!
 

TorchMan

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If anyone wants to post more safety advice, please do so. I'm gonna make a "bugout" bag, something to keep in the hall with me. Some important papers, a few family photos, a few clothes. Maybe some food. I'm gonna take a mattress into the hall to, just in case. I have only one cat carrier, and three cats. One is terrified of thunder storms.

I'm most afraid of wind and debris. House across the street is being redone, and as of this evening much unused (and a good deal unbundled) lumber and a dumpster full of old wood and the like. Big dumpster, too. Owners are in Florida, workers were no show today. No plywood here either. Bad recipe.

I've had a whole lot of advice, but I really should be taking notes because I can't seem to remember it all. Of course, I have lots of flashlights and batteries, and many are adjustable Lux.

And how's this for flashlight irony. My UPS scheduled delivery of a TL-3 and two Pelican M6 lamp replacement (mine is still fine, just couldn't pass them up). is scheduled for a Friday delivery. I know that ain't happin', and don't really need it anyway, but it did make me laugh.

As the approaching storm nears, I think of those who lived around Vesuvis in A.D. 79, and wonder. I might still flee, it seems the most logical thing. Three cats, no hotel rooms available and no out of town relatives. I fell like a cross between Alfred E. Neuman "What, me worry?" and Vinne Barbarino "What?" :laughing:

It's been what I call a bad. My AC is going out in the house here too, it's only 2\12 years old and it's routine serviced. I think I may be wishing it felt like it does in here now in a few days though. And at least the place still stands.
 

DieselDave

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You can search the forum and get some good ideas. I will only mention water.

The only must have for survival is water. You can go a week or two without food, lights, and change of clothes and be fine, but water is critical by the end of day two.

The old idea of filling the bathtub and sinks is still a good one. If flooding is a potential then fill pots and pans and put them in the attic. Have a couple of gallons of bleach on hand. Add 2 table spoons to every gallon of water you want to drink. Only add the bleach when you are ready to drink it. By that I mean the same day. I would let the bleach do its thing for a couple of hours before drinking the water.

Make sure to safeguard all important paperwork, Ins, SS card, Passport, medical records, tax returns and so on. Turn your frig. and freezer up to max cold tomorrow and keep it closed. Once you lose power turn off all breakers. If forced into the attic, have a way out, saw, hammer, chainsaw, something. Carry a torch and multi tool at all times. Have 50'-100' of rope handy.
 

TorchMan

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Thank you, all good ideas. I EDC a U2 in a RipOff holster and a Leatherman right next to it. Floding will not be that bad of a problem. I've several three gallon water bottles and two and a half cases of half liter. I will fill all sinks, pots and pans.

I've sent more PMs, but they've started locking up my PC, or something has when I try to send them. Will retry.
 

Stingray

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Freeze as many bottles of water as you can and use them to keep your refrigerator cold a while longer if the power goes out. Then you can drink the water when it melts.

60 -70 mph winds can easily uproot trees if the roots get really waterlogged first. I know first hand from Katrina here :(

A small camp axe or hatchet is handy to have in your bail out bag. Don't forget any daily medicines you take. Get lots of zip lock bags and put the important stuff in them.

Put tall furniture in front of the inside of the windows facing the house with all the debris. Put your car in front of the windows if you can.
 

TorchMan

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Thanks for the advice!

Channel 2 news is now reporting the high pressure in the east (Louisiana) is weaking. This means they are thinking (I hope incorrectly) it will hit Freeport. This graph on the screeen shows 120 mph winds here in Houston. 100 mph well past Conroe, all the way to College Station. I'm gonna rewind and see if it's sustained or not. I'm thinking in is. I know it's all predictions, but they keep getting worse.

I'm reading some excellent tips here, thanks.
 

TimeTraveller

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I live in Sugar Land, which is SW of Houston. My family decided to stay instead of leaving, because the road condition is bad...

Looks like the hurricane is shifting eastward...
 

wwglen

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bwaites

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The bleach, like all chlorine, will evaporate from the water fairly rapidly.

For storage in clean containers, the longtime recommendation has been 1tsp per gallon, and then leave the container open for a while before using.

For immediate use, less is probably necessary. I like the freezing it idea!

General rule of thumb, if it still tastes like bleach, don't drink it. If it tastes like pool water, it's probably safe! (THAT'S A TONGUE IN CHEEK, VERY GENERAL RULE, FOLKS!!!)

Bill
 

idleprocess

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I'm in Dallas, but the projections I've seen are placing the storm on a track that will likely brush past it, possibly go over it during a transition from category 1 hurricane to tropical storm. I'm not sure how Dallas will fare under category 1 winds - most thunderstorms around here don't last more than an hour or so and typically only gust to the sustained winds of a category 1 storm.

I expect that 24-48 hour power loss is likely - meaning loss of tap water if the outage is wide-spread enough.

Impossible to buy bottled water at the local Wally World. I'll check a few places tomorrow, but I have several water storage containers if nothing else - about 6 gallons' worth. I have plenty of canned and other non-spoliable food. I think I'm ready for a few days on my own assuming the building survives.

There's a creek behind my apartment building that floods rather impressively during a severe downpour. I'm about 30 yards from it and over 20' above it, on the 2nd floor in a building inside of a bend, so I think I'm OK on floodwaters.

I hope that the hurricane will just belike a big thunderstorm if it passes over the area - mostly inconvenience, with the possibility of OT at work in the event there are some outages...
 
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Stingray

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Loss of water is usually do to flooding and contamination or broken pipes, not loss of power.

It won't flood 20 feet, but you might get trapped there temporarily, or have to wade out.
 
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