Hurricane Rita

[nytehawk]

<small>[ 09-21-2005, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Nicole Marie ]</small>

[zlosin]

this is sick

[Nicole Marie]

NYtehawk-

I deleted your post. Nice bait and switch. Please don't do that again.

[Trumpetmaster]

Y.R.H.
Thanks for deleting that post.
I read it early this morning and thought the same as PSIP.

[mmichaelson]

Missed his post, and I"m not sad I did, judging by some of your comments.

Rita is heading this way.

[OperaTenor]

Oh my, SB!

Are you in its path? Please be safe and aware, and remember you're in our prayers.

What about Haggis? Are he and the MRHYN in the path as well?

[mmichaelson]

Haggis should be safe up in Dallas. . .it will die down substantially before getting that far north. College Station is (currently) directly in the path, but being 300 miles inland helps us out a lot. My parents, howerver, live in Beaumont, which is about an hour from Galveston. They may evacuate and come here tonight.

Hopefully the most we'll get is a lot of rain and some wind. . .<fingers crossed>

They have evacuated the pediatric burn unit at the Galveston hospital here. . .to our large animal clinic. They sent all the animals away and turned the sterile rooms into rooms for people. They have turned the office spaces into "hotel rooms" for the patients' families. Things here at work are a zoo today.

Very stressed and am sure I will only get more stressed.

[Trumpetmaster]

My prayers are with you.
If they tell you to evacuate, please go quickly.

[piqaboo]

wow. That's creative.

good luck dealing with all the stress. I hope having your parents in the house is not an added cause of stress for either you or the Proud Daddy to fawn boxer and two tabbies.

[mmichaelson]

LOL. Yeah, creative. We have the foremost technologically advanced vet hospital, which is at least as advanced as most people hospitals. They cleaned out all the triage rooms and sanitized them. . .and put burned kids in them. They've completely shut down that part of the vet school . . .even employees can't get in.

I'm hoping, at the point, that my dad decides to evacuate. Right now it's only a voluntary evacuation for the Beaumont area (jefferson county) but it could change to mandatory. My mom is really stressing. . she's having to shut down her plant and get her people out. . .she isn't prepared to stay through one, even a glancing blow. . . I'll strong-arm dad.

Having my parents and THEIR two dogs and one cat shouldn't be too much stress on Sean or I or our dog, but probably will be on our two tabby kitties. I'll probably lock the cats away in separate bedrooms so they can have their oases away from the dogs.

We will be ok- they will not evacuate BCS because we're too far north to take any storm surge damage.
We'll be fine, like I said. .. I'm just a stinking worry wort.

[mmichaelson]

We are now at 150 mph sustained winds, just 5 mph short of a category five. And two more days to strengthen before landfall. <eek>

[mmichaelson]

It is now a category 5, with 165 mph sustained winds. Expected to strengthen still.

[OperaTenor]

Hi SB,

You're not a worry wart to be concerned about a Cat-5, even if you are 300 miles away from it. I'm with you; your mom & dad need to batten down the hatches and get the hell out of Dodge.

Good luck to all.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Best policy sounds like a Neil Diamond song - Pack up the babies, and grab the old ladies, and everyone go...

One of my friends had nifty cat cages that'd be useful in situations like this - 6 foot long, by 4 foot wide by 6 foot tall, with a two-part dutch door. Useful if you have to house cats that don't know each other in close quarters. You might check the larger pet stores. I think they're standard cattery equipment.

Or is Sam ready to move into a larger crate?

Best place to be for a hurricane has got to be "elsewhere".

[Trumpetmaster]

Ignore anyone who says you're a worry wart.

Katrina got down to 902 millibars and when she struck the gulf coast she was at 923 millibars.

Rita is closing in at 923 if not there already,
getting bigger and stronger.

Get yourself and your family out of there.

My prayers are with you.

[Trumpetmaster]

BTW - When Dennis rolled through the Pensacola area a few months ago, my parents house lost more of it's roof. They are 2 miles from the Gulf of Mexico about 20 minutes east of Pensacola.

They evacuated to Georgia (we have relatives there) when Dennis came through and found an apartment they will be moving to next month.

I've actually helped pack about 20 boxes of stuff for them while I'm here.

you can always rebuild if you chose to stay in the area which is a better alternative than to hunker down and ride this out.

My parents rode out Ivan and swore they would NEVER do that again.

I went down to the beach area that got blasted by Ivan. It's a year later now and you can't believe the damage and mess still around this area.

Katrina made Ivan look small. I fear Rita will be bigger and stronger than Katrina.

Fill up your cars with gas and get out now before the roads are clogged.

<small>[ 09-21-2005, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: TrumpetMaster ]</small>

[piqaboo]

How is the dad-strong-arming going, Saxy? Is he responding to pressure? Good luck!

[mmichaelson]

Haven't gotten to work on him yet.

Will let you guys know!

[hal 9000]

Rita is now at 897mb! 175mph and still a high probabilty of strengthening! They say that this is the 3rd most intense hurricane in recorded history. I know the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 that hit the Florida Keys holds the #1 spot, but I'm not sure which one has number two? Katrina held the #3 spot for about 3 weeks until Rita came along.

To all you folks in Texas. Be smart and get to safety. This storm is as serious if not more than Katrina. I hope for your safety.

[Trumpetmaster]

Just saw that report on the weather channel.
897mb. AND strengthening ... Time to get out of town...

Looks nasty on the radar/satellite pictures.