Mason still needs a fisrt vist to Eaker's!
Posted on 09/29/2005 4:40:58 PM PDT by ForGod'sSake
Some personal observations on Rita...
For starters, I'm on line now thanks to a newly purchased(since in a stroke of brilliance, I recently sold my 6 year old generator that I never used and only loaned out a few times) 5600W generator. I was also able to purchase the last 21,000 BTU "window" a/c from Sears in Lufkin Texas. For those unaquainted with "tropical" climates, with the temp and humidity competing for which one gets to 100 first, "uncomfortable" is an understatement. Especially for me because I would prefer to get out and work in 40 degree weather then even 70 degree plus. And yeah, I ask myself at times, WTH am I doing in east Texas? Well, it's home.
So, a couple of days before Rita is due, I check in with my daughter and son-in-law who live in mid-Jefferson county(Beamont/Port Arthur area) to get an idea of their plans(and suggest one if necessary ;^)). My daughter tells me she and the grandbabies are planning on coming to my place the next day. I "suggested" the sooner the better. They ended up leaving late that night(Thursday), heading in my direction. It took them three and a half hours to make what is normally an hour and a half trip. They arrived in downtown Chester Texas(home sweet home) in the northwest corner of Tyler county around 2:00 in the morning. BTW, son-in-law, who is an ER nurse, had to stick around; he works at Baptist hospital in Beaumont.
Since I've lived in hurricane country most of my adult life, normal and routine preparations were made(fact is, I stay "prepared" most of the time anyway). Fill jugs for drinking water(most go in the freezer), fill a bath tub(for flushing water), additional water in an outside tank(which also keeps it from going airborne), everything not tied down brought inside, etc. Send my daughter to the store for last minute non-perishables on Friday before the storm. By Friday evening, we're as ready as we can be with one exception which I'll get to later.
An aside; during this time the in-laws have not decided what they're going to do or where they're going to go. I suggested it didn't matter as long as they got out of Jefferson county. After some fits and starts, they made a last minute dash for the northwest Houston area instead of up here to the piney woods, which turned out to be a smart move since Houston was mostly spared.
So, by Friday evening it appears western Louisiana and east Texas will take the hit from this storm. I pass out the flashlights, set up a meeting area if things get really bad and we get separated. I make sure the grandkids understand what's going on and they need to get some sleep because we may need to get up early. I have set up a tent in their bedroom so it's sort of a camping thing for them.
By midnight winds begin to show some serious signs of aggression. At 1:00 A.M. we lose power. By 2:00, the moaning and whistling through the trees becomes continuous. Daughter in the Azores with other son-in-law calls to see how we're doing. We report we're doing fine under the circumstances, but it's going to get worse. Hurricane winds are hitting us by 4:00 and everything's holding together. By 6:00 we're getting wind gusts near 100 mph, and the "eye" is still approaching. At 6:30, daughter in the Azores calls again and before she hangs up my "tool shed" becomes airborne. This upsets her immensely because amongst other things, she was here during the construction phase of it. She also realizes I had it anchored down pretty well, but as it turns out, not well enough.
Daylight arrives, and actually seeing what we've been hearing all night is unsettling(but I don't let on). The gusts from this storm were just incredible. I've been through a couple other storms but they weren't like this one. Their winds were more consistent, that is, the difference between the sustained winds and the wind gusts were not as great. Rita was something to behold; at times the winds almost seemed to die down, only to be replaced by gusts stronger than the last ones. For the last few hours we've occasionally heard the cracking of limbs above the wind and the distinctive "thump" of a tree hitting the ground. And the "eye" has still not passed. These piney woods are being torn to shreds and we haven't seen the worst of it yet. I pray to God to watch over my humble abode and this small gathering.
By 10:00 or so, the eye has finally passed us; daughter in the Azores calls again, and we can report the worst is over. We're still here and no major damage to life, limb or property. She's ecstatic, and she's not the emotional one. My thoughts go to the people to the east of us. We were on the "clean" side of this storm and "news" reports notwithstanding, we received no more than three inches of rain from Rita. I can't say whether the weather station's rain gauges allow for sideways rain or not, but we got nowhere near the rain reported. The wind itself is another matter. As it turns out, we were no more than twenty miles from the center of Rita when she passed and for those that have been this close to a major storm, no explanation is needed. If you haven't been there, no explanation will suffice.
By mid afternoon the winds have died down to the point where we can venture out. We don't get far. Most, if not all the roads around here are impassable. Big trees lose to big wind every time, and they litter the roads. However, the locals, being the industrious sort, crank up the John Deere's and begin pulling trees out of the roads and pig trails in these parts. I grab my chain saw, throw it in the back of the truck and take off. Along with a few others, we're able to clear most of the debris in our little neck of the woods. Question is, where are we gonna go?
Last I heard, six counties in southeast Texas are still without power and some of us are not likely to have electricity for several more weeks. Which brings me to another point. That is, my generator, since I'm also running a window a/c on it, is using about 10 gallons of gas a day. At $3.00/gal; do the math. That's not the worst of it however. The nearest gas we've been able to find is about 25 miles away, and rationed by the station owners(the lines move faster). Most have a limit of $25 - $30 per person. That's barely enough to keep the generator going, not to mention getting there and back. Enter, pay-at-the-pump stations.......after hours. My brother and I went to Diboll Texas last night and pumped almost $200 of gas in various containers, including a 50 gallon drum left over from my Y2K stash. We're set for about three days. Some good news, a "cool" front has passed through the area and I was able to turn off the a/c. From the looks of things I shouldn't need to turn it on again til maybe day after tomorrow.
I've actually run on longer than I had anticipated, but whatever.....
I've got some pics that I'll post as soon as I get 'em sized and formatted. Daughter also took some video of the storm that might be of interest, but will not likely be uploaded on a computer any time soon since they're not even able to go home. Interesting times.....
Oh, and the one exception I mentioned earlier. My "tool shed" had an open side on it. The thought never occurred to me to seal it off with something, like plywood(which we had just laying around). If I had sealed the open side, the wind may have not been able to get in and "lift" it, and flip it over after traveling about six feet. Oh well; next time.
FGS
A ~ping~ for a few that come to mind.
Glad you made it thru the storm without any major damage. thanks for the report.
Paging Eaker.
We do this kind of stuff as a matter of course.
I'm glad y'all are all OK.
We were as ready as one can be.
Humble is under the impression that my 3000 square foot 4 bedroom / 2 car garage home doesn't have room for my chainsaw so he keeps it with him.
;<)
I made preparations to swap gas and 2-stroke oil with a neighbor if I needed their chainsaw.
Humble is always looking out for me!
Seriously we had each others back.
Tell'em how you looted where most folks wouldn't loot!
Well, I'd like to see anyone else loot the Eaker Compound
for a box of .40 cal and a bag of catfood. And already toting the Eaker chainsaw too.
I'd tell 'em their chances ain't too good, hoss.
If you need any canned ravioli, spaghetti-o's, green beans, red beans,
Sam's Club water, Dr. K soda or Parade brand cherry cola holler at me.
I have a bunch.
I lost a bunch of deer meat though.
Command decision.
Gilligan would be sad.
It will take Mason a few more visits before he associates you with various meats.
Mason still needs a fisrt vist to Eaker's!
Thanks, and you're welcome.
Not Eaker, Gilligan ate 'em! He has a sausage-eating look on him.
Thanks. Another note: Tyler county was declared a disaster area and as such is eligible for "assistance". Big rigs began rolling into town a couple days ago filled with water, ice and prepackaged meals(similar to but NOT MRE's); enough to supply the whole town for weeks. I went to the (volunteer)fire station to help unload water til the shoulders gave out(I should have been in the ice truck!). Gathered up a few goodies that I'll probably hang on to til hurricane season is over.
Heh. Understood, but with friends like humble.....
FGS
great story and looking for the pics
Enthusiastically agree! I had a discussion with another Freeper after Katrina hit concerning what would happen if Houston were hit. I suspect it wouldn't be pretty.
We folks here in the country tend to know or know of everybody for miles around and it makes a difference when things like this happen. Within minutes the phone lines get hot from folks checking on each other and I'd bet that within an hour or so help would be on the way......John Deere's and all ;^)
FGS
Everybody loved Gilligan!
Flyer is right, you can never be overprepared for these things.FGS glad to hear you and youren made it through ok, we got some wind, a few trees down in the area and lost power for about 60 hours but we never lost phones so still had internet and FR. We also purchased a small window unit for the two back rooms, worked like a charm.The downside is you had to sleep through the sound of the generator in the background but I was thankful for it as I know you was for yours.
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