[ForGod'sSake]

A ~ping~ for a few that come to mind.

[Ditter]

Glad you made it thru the storm without any major damage. thanks for the report.

[humblegunner]

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.

Paging Eaker.

We do this kind of stuff as a matter of course.

I'm glad y'all are all OK.

[backhoe]

I appreciate your report, very glad you got through it as well as you did, and will crosslink your tale here:

-HURRICANE RITA-- archive of links--

[Flyer]

Great first hand story! Thanks for sharing. I think it reinforces that we were not over prepared in Houston. If we had been on the east side of the storm we would have need all that preparation desperately.

[bitt]

great story and looking for the pics

[Nita Nupress]

Bookmark for tomorrow. (Thank you for the great thread.)

[philman_36]

Glad to hear ya'll made out okay.
Lots of tall tales out.
Real quick...left out Thursday morning to Center. Got there early Friday morning. Center to Palestine Friday night. Palestine to Port Arthur arrived late Saturday night (I was a bad boy and found my way into a "closed city" to see the damage for myself and to clean out the freezer/fridge).
Lots of trees down all along the way. Lots of trees and power lines down in PA. NO MAJOR FLOODING despite what we heard on the television. Very little damage to the homes that we saw along the way.
Spent the night at home and headed back to Palestine Sunday afternoon and there was very little damage overall to the area on the way out on 69 N. There were plenty of trees and power lines down all along the way so it isn't going to be an easy fix.
Catch ya'll later. Library time is about up here.

[deport]

I came through that area on Mon. and it was littered with trees to say the least. I was trying to get to Jefferson Cty but they kept us blocked out and with gasoline in short supply or non existent we headed on west and wound up in Houston. I've been here all week.

I finally got into the Bmt area on Tue and to say the least it is a mess... I'll try to get some pictures online at some point. I have a tree on my roof/garage with damage into my den/kitchen. Not a nice site... More later

[greene66]

Well, I rode out the storm here in Nederland. My first generator konked out on me, but a neighbor lent me his, so I'm at least able to get onto the internet again, and find out what's going on in the outside world.

I'm so exhausted. Spent the first 3 days after the hurricane on the roof, nailing up bits and pieces of fallen shingles. Brutally hot. Now I'm sawing up the two trees that surrendered to Rita. My hands are swollen from all the many little cuts and fire-ant bites (16 fire-ant bites on my hand!). Luckily, my sister drove my grandmother to her apartment in Houston a day after the storm, as the intense heat would have been too much for her.

Well, I guess we have to expect these calamities from time to time, courtesy of Mother Nature. I don't really have any complaints. True, it's been rough sledding at times (trying to sleep at night while sweltering in humid heat, for example). But, oh well. Looking forward to the time we get get electricity back, and I can sit back in cool comfort, with a chilled drink, and watch some dvd's.

[RoseyT]

Please ping me when y'all start posting pictures. Also, I was wondering if anyone heard anyone has heard "official" numbers about the wind speeds in the area.
Thanks.

[exhaustedmomma]

Where is Chester, Texas? We evacuated from Alvin to Hemphill Tuesday. By Friday, evacuation of everything east of Houston to pass Lake Charles coastal areas were evacuating up all the little country roads northward. The major roads out of Houston had been clogged since Wednesday. The roads were a major mess.

Winds were reported over 100mph where we were. It howled from 3 am until late afternoon. My husband, son-in-law and sons got out with our chainsaws to clear the way for emergency vehicles. This storm was just plain weird.