Hurricane Rita Freeper CHECK IN THREAD

www.freerepublic.com | September 24, 2005

[Howlin]

Okay, now that the worst of the storm is over, it's time to start counting heads. If you were in the path of the storm, please check in on this thread.

And yes, we'd LOVE to hear your experiences!!!

[mathluv]

We have some rain, wind. A fence behind me fell over about an hour ago. The tree next door has some whipping around when the wind gets started. The power hasn't gone out - puter still on - but several blinks.

[mathluv]

At least I never heard Shep say SabEYEn instead of SaBEAN. When I heard geraldo say it again this morning, I nearly screamed. When I heard Tony say it, I freepmailed him.

[Richard Kimball]

I've got relatives in the Houston/Galveston area. Haven't heard from them, but considering the way the storm went, I'd be surprised if there was a problem. I live outside of Waco, and we haven't even gotten rain yet. They were predicting 80-100 mph winds before Rita changed trajectory, but I was always a little skeptical of that.

I think a lot of the press is still covering Katrina and calling it Rita. There was some damage, but this will not be a disaster with national ramifications, IMHO.

[onyx]

I'm here! Everything is fine thus far.

ONLY internittent wind and tornado warnings that I'm sick of tracking.

Very light rain and it's rain we need...lol.

[onyx]

MEG! Hurray!!! Just now found your post!

[McGavin999]

Oh thank God you are OK.

[OffMyMeds]

Olla Freepers from a non-evacuee in Victoria, Texas! We had planned to leave Thursday early AM but Wednesday night about 10PM Fox News weather showed the storm moving sharply north & east. By the next morning it was clear that Victoria had dodged the bullet. By then, the traffic jam reports were starting to surface. Some friends of ours left about 1PM Thursday for Austin and eight hours later gave up in Kyle, Texas (about 23 miles south of Austin). Victoria is fairly well deserted but people are trickling back in. WalMart is fully staffed & open; HEB is about 30-40% staffed and has gasoline. Last I heard from the city government, the 8PM to 7AM curfew is still in place. Several people were arrested Wednesday night for being out & about without any reason. So to sum up, not much wind, no rain and lot of thankful people who were lucky enough to have this one miss them. All the best to those who ended up on the sharp end of Rita.

[MEG33]

The Red Cross had my grandson, just graduated from basic training in the Navy, notified about our being in the path earlier..(before the turn) ..

We therefore got to have a nice long phone call with him last night to tell him all about our trip north and to Waco ..and we got to hear all about him..

(Something good came from all the tense moments we had earlier in the week. He always makes us laugh.."Fighting terrorism by swabbing the decks".. his words).

[onyx]

Thank you McG. :)

This hurricane stuff is all NEW to me.

[ru4liberty]

I left Galveson County at 7:30 Wednesday morning and headed for a relative's home in Ft. Worth. The trip usually takes me 5 hours. This time it took me 6. I considered myself blessed to have left when I did.

I tried to get some of my friends to leave earlier than they did, but they wouldn't listen to me. They left Pasadena at midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning and it took them 20 hours to get to their farm just the other side of Bryan/College Station. Maybe next time she'll listen to me. ;)

[blam]

I'm not on the 'list' but I'm checking in anyway.

I've been suprised at how long and strong the wind has been here in Mobile, it's been blowing pretty strong for 3-4 days now. I've lost power four times today.

[hummingbird]

Just heard on radio that people are advised not to come back yet. Trying to keep roads open for convoys going from various areas to the Beaumont/Port Arthur area. Gas not yet available, some areas do not have electrical power, etc.

"I-10 from Beaumont to Houston is full...trying to get assisted vehicles into Beaumont District." (Radio TXDOT report just moments ago!) They are working 24 hour shifts and they need cleared roads to get through. Sounds like you're having a good time in Austin...might want to stay a bit longer. Also, vehicles with high profiles are especially warned not to travel because of the winds....like RV's and Vans, I think.

[McGavin999]

I can't even imagine what it's like. Living in Phoenix all we ever get is dust storms or some pretty violent thunder storms. The very thought of 100 mph wind and floods is just absolutely beyond my comprehension

[Texasforever]

Less than a 1/2 inch of rain and only a fast breeze. No loss of power. That was it. We really lucked out.

[hummingbird]

Couldn't be better in West Houston. Didn't lose anything (water, power, cable, etc.) Just a little wind and rain. Pretty uneventful. Thank the Lord, but I still pray for those in the storm's path and those who will be returning home as well.

We're in West Houston, too, and got about the same. Trees got trimmed - for free - courtesy of Rita, but my folks are only a couple of miles away and they lost power. Some downed lines in the neighborhood/traffic lights out and people still being advised to stay in. They don't want any electrical accidents with live wires.

[Alexis the Bengal Kitty]

I expect it is a croc from one of the alligator farms.

It might be the same picture I saw of a large "reptile" in a container.

[onyx]

I hear you. I loved the T-storms when I lived in Laughin, NV. The crackling was thrilling and the lightning shows unbelievably beautiful. Nothing quite like a desert storm.

[Helen]

We're between Tomball and Magnolia in Montgomery County and came through with no problems. We had enough wind to throw some small branches around, but are in great shape.

The hurricane clouds came in right at dusk here, and it's been a long time since I've seen anything so breathtakingly beautiful. The sun against the storm clouds reflected with such a gorgeos glow. Made me wish I was an artist.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all in the path of Rita. I'm well aware that our luck means someone else's misery.

[hummingbird]

There was probably 2,000,000 folks that left the Houston area. All of our neighbor towns took 'em all in.

My brother and his family (Kingwood) went through College Station to get to the Hill Country and they saw lots of folks with car problems or no gas so there could well be a bunch of people at College Station who didn't intend to stop there. Brother had gas can and took back roads - took him 12 hours to get from Kingwood to San Marcos.

[blam]

"The weather guy on FOX says Rita could turn around and do a loop in the Gulf and hit somewhere elese....but not for few days...."

Rita to herself: "Oops. We all have standing orders to hit blam's house. Okay, I'll just do a little loop, hit New Orleans on the way out and make my way up the coast to blam's house."