Austin, Bryan-College Station, Belton and Killeen hotel and motel rooms sold out. Moving college and HS games up a day in Central TX to get those 'Friday Night Lights' in....
hurricaine rita
- Thread starter MadJack
- Start date
I'm in Austin now. It took almost three hours to get to Columbus, Texas which is only 62 miles from my house. Glad I left when I did cause this Rita looks like a bad motherscooter!The Judge said:
Anyone left in the Houston area still has time to leave and I hope that people heed the warnings this time. A category 5 hurricane is nothing to fool around with.
Luckily I made my hotel reservations in Austin yesterday morning. This weekend is the Austin City Limits Music Festival and I am told that there is not a hotel room available for 100 miles in every direction.
God bless all that are going to be affected by this storm and I hope all of my friends here at Mad Jack's that are in the path use good judgement and get the hell out!
ripken8 said:
I hoped they got rooms booked before everybody else. The news said that all hotels are booked up and there are a lot of hotels around this city. :scared
Simply in the Red,
relatives called couple hours ago, change of plans. they have friends in oklahoma that they're going to stay with. I think it's a 10 or 11 hour drive, not sure. the schools are closed where they are, so they don't know how long they'll be away. My family and I are supposed to fly down to houston in two weeks, we haven't seen them in a while. not sure that's going to happen now, we'll see. I just hope everyone is safe...
relatives called couple hours ago, change of plans. they have friends in oklahoma that they're going to stay with. I think it's a 10 or 11 hour drive, not sure. the schools are closed where they are, so they don't know how long they'll be away. My family and I are supposed to fly down to houston in two weeks, we haven't seen them in a while. not sure that's going to happen now, we'll see. I just hope everyone is safe...
Just got this e-mail from my cousin that I been trying to evacuate against my wishes they are staying. :cursin: All I can do now is pray for their safety please remember them in your prayers as I will do the same for your family member's.
Vince, thanks for the offer. Very appreciated. Kris' mom is evacuating at 2am. They were going to come here but decided it's too risky still so they are going to Austin to sisnlaw Beth. As for us, we're going to do our best to ride it out. We are in Fort Bend Cty, and have not been given evacuation orders and don't expect to get them. Others about 15 miles east of us are being given orders .Probably because there are too many others on the roads for days now anyway. What would normally take about an hour ride is now 5 hours from Galveston to downtown Houston.
We're in for a mother of a storm. Tomorrow I'll finish boarding up over half of the house (Sth and East sides; stores are about out of plywood anyway), filling 30+ water jugs, flashlights (stores have been out of D batteries for a day already and out of water for about 2 days), getting the axe (for getting out the roof if worst case rising water) and gun ready, etc.. we need prayers. This is unprecedented. we're in zip code 77459, 40 miles inland in Missouri City. Others further out are leaving too. Kris' mom's house is in Clear Lake City (zip 77002) and they'll be lucky to come back to a house that was once surrounded by trees. We'll definitely have our street flooded, just hope it stays off our first floor and definitely off our 2nd floor. We have life jackets ready and upstairs too. Gas stations have closed up. Tiger scout joey seems prepared. please say prayers for us.
We have about 2 days of power left I'm sure and then could be out for 2 weeks, sweating it out. Where's the dang northers when you need 'em?
Our worst fear is not so much rising water, but the winds' damage, roof structure, spin off tornadoes, broken windows during 120+mph winds could cause havoc on our nerves while inside etc...
cell phone battery is about dead but you can leave a message and whenever we are able to get them we'll respond.
keeping the 2004 malibu maxx in the garage, 92 gmc sierra pickup and 97 blazer in the driveway.
all the best; we have a full day tomorrow and friday finishing preps, picking up things outside so they don't become projectiles/missiles towards our house.
Thanks again for the offer. We're doing what we can to survive this mother. Anyone who is to leave should be gone no later than 2pm tomorrow if they are going to make it out and to a place they can get reservations.
stay in touch!
Vince, thanks for the offer. Very appreciated. Kris' mom is evacuating at 2am. They were going to come here but decided it's too risky still so they are going to Austin to sisnlaw Beth. As for us, we're going to do our best to ride it out. We are in Fort Bend Cty, and have not been given evacuation orders and don't expect to get them. Others about 15 miles east of us are being given orders .Probably because there are too many others on the roads for days now anyway. What would normally take about an hour ride is now 5 hours from Galveston to downtown Houston.
We're in for a mother of a storm. Tomorrow I'll finish boarding up over half of the house (Sth and East sides; stores are about out of plywood anyway), filling 30+ water jugs, flashlights (stores have been out of D batteries for a day already and out of water for about 2 days), getting the axe (for getting out the roof if worst case rising water) and gun ready, etc.. we need prayers. This is unprecedented. we're in zip code 77459, 40 miles inland in Missouri City. Others further out are leaving too. Kris' mom's house is in Clear Lake City (zip 77002) and they'll be lucky to come back to a house that was once surrounded by trees. We'll definitely have our street flooded, just hope it stays off our first floor and definitely off our 2nd floor. We have life jackets ready and upstairs too. Gas stations have closed up. Tiger scout joey seems prepared. please say prayers for us.
We have about 2 days of power left I'm sure and then could be out for 2 weeks, sweating it out. Where's the dang northers when you need 'em?
Our worst fear is not so much rising water, but the winds' damage, roof structure, spin off tornadoes, broken windows during 120+mph winds could cause havoc on our nerves while inside etc...
cell phone battery is about dead but you can leave a message and whenever we are able to get them we'll respond.
keeping the 2004 malibu maxx in the garage, 92 gmc sierra pickup and 97 blazer in the driveway.
all the best; we have a full day tomorrow and friday finishing preps, picking up things outside so they don't become projectiles/missiles towards our house.
Thanks again for the offer. We're doing what we can to survive this mother. Anyone who is to leave should be gone no later than 2pm tomorrow if they are going to make it out and to a place they can get reservations.
stay in touch!
Am I wrong to think it wouldn't be a horrible thing for this storm to turn and hit the same area. It is already destroyed, most of the people are out of there and why destroy a different part of the country.
I don't want to see anyone get hurt, but I don't know, doesn't seem like it would be the worst scenario...
I don't want to see anyone get hurt, but I don't know, doesn't seem like it would be the worst scenario...
Vinnie, I think your cousin meant to say Missouri City in Ft. Bend County.vinnie said:
This is within five miles of my office and I hope that this area is spared the high winds that are expected in areas nearer the coast. Some areas of Missouri City are along the Brazos River and should be spared the flooding from the initial rains. However, a real danger lies in the flooding that can occur from the rain that falls inland as the runoff floods the rivers that empty into the Gulf.
My prayers are with your family and all of those that decided to ride this one out.
IntenseOperator said:figured this applied to this thread as well
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/js20050914.shtml
Man.... this guy looks like Ron Burgundy!
I hope everyone in the path of this thing gets out and stays safe. Crazy the way Mother Nature works.
Well, grandmother is out of Port O'Conner
Looks like that town will be destroyed as it was a few decades back
Makes me want to puke watching this media coverage. They all look like they are anxiously excited about this for some reason.
Our family has two widowed grandmas that will be homeless after this storm and one will probably lose everything. Horrible situation and these pukes love it. Unreal.
Looks like that town will be destroyed as it was a few decades back
Makes me want to puke watching this media coverage. They all look like they are anxiously excited about this for some reason.
Our family has two widowed grandmas that will be homeless after this storm and one will probably lose everything. Horrible situation and these pukes love it. Unreal.
ripken8 said:
I hope they are already out of Houston. Traffic has gone crazy over there. There are reports of several hour drives just to make it 10-15 miles. I wish them luck.
It's nuts, I will try to take some pics of one of the evac routes and post (I live pretty close)
Well its not looking good for East texas or southwest Louisiana. No ice or gas left. No hotel rooms left probably in the state of louisiana. And a mother of a storm barrelling down us in about 18 hrs. Man im telling u this crap gets old.
horrible tragedy.
god bless them.
DALLAS -- A fire in a chartered bus filled with elderly Hurricane Rita evacuees, including some who used oxygen, killed 24 people and injuring at least one near Dallas Friday.
Authorities said the bus apparently caught fire due to a mechanical problem, and that oxygen tanks then started exploding on gridlocked Interstate 45. Dallas County Sheriff's Sgt. Don Peritz said the brakes may have been on fire, leading to the explosion.
Peritz said deputies couldn't get everyone off the flaming bus. The bus was carrying 38 residents and six employees of the Brighton Gardens nursing home in Bellaire to Plano, according to Sunrise Senior Living, the McLean, Va., company that owns the center.
They had been on the road since Thursday.
Peritz said the driver survived. "It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people," he said.
Nine burn victims, between the ages 78 and 101, were sent to Parkland Hospital, where all except one were believed to be OK with only minor burns. One woman suffered severe smoke inhalation and was in critical condition Friday morning.
Three women and one man were sent to Baylor Medical Center, where they are listed in fair condition.
Northbound lanes on I-45 were reopened late Friday morning. State officials said traffic was being diverted off I-45 onto U.S. Highway 287 at Ennis, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas.
Peritz said permission was given to remove the charred hulk of the bus from the northbound lane with the bodies still on board, shrouded by tarps. The crowded interstate is a primary Hurricane Rita evacuation route.
The bus, surrounded by police cars and ambulances, was engulfed with flames and later reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell with large blue tarps covering many seats.
Peritz said the driver and arriving deputies tried to rescue as many passengers from the bus as possible but couldn't save everybody. He said the driver survived.
"It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people," he said.
The fire caused a 17-mile backup on a freeway that was already heavily congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast.
State officials said northbound traffic was diverted off I-45 onto U.S. Highway 287 at Ennis, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas.
I-45 stretches more than 250 miles from Galveston through Houston to Dallas.
Bellaire city officials defended the decision to evacuate the elderly patients from the Brighton Gardens nursing home.
?(Evacuating was) the right decision," Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel said. "Brighton Gardens was following their evacuation procedures. Just 24 hours ago, (Houston) was expected to take the brunt of Hurricane Rita, Brighton Gardens was doing their job to get their patients to safety"
"Unfortunately, this is a tragedy that we are very saddened by. I don?t think anyone can ever plan for every tragedy that can occur,? Siegel said.
Siegel said relatives of residents at Brighton Gardens should contact the nursing home directly at (713) 665-3888 to obtain information on their conditions.
god bless them.
DALLAS -- A fire in a chartered bus filled with elderly Hurricane Rita evacuees, including some who used oxygen, killed 24 people and injuring at least one near Dallas Friday.
Authorities said the bus apparently caught fire due to a mechanical problem, and that oxygen tanks then started exploding on gridlocked Interstate 45. Dallas County Sheriff's Sgt. Don Peritz said the brakes may have been on fire, leading to the explosion.
Peritz said deputies couldn't get everyone off the flaming bus. The bus was carrying 38 residents and six employees of the Brighton Gardens nursing home in Bellaire to Plano, according to Sunrise Senior Living, the McLean, Va., company that owns the center.
They had been on the road since Thursday.
Peritz said the driver survived. "It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people," he said.
Nine burn victims, between the ages 78 and 101, were sent to Parkland Hospital, where all except one were believed to be OK with only minor burns. One woman suffered severe smoke inhalation and was in critical condition Friday morning.
Three women and one man were sent to Baylor Medical Center, where they are listed in fair condition.
Northbound lanes on I-45 were reopened late Friday morning. State officials said traffic was being diverted off I-45 onto U.S. Highway 287 at Ennis, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas.
Peritz said permission was given to remove the charred hulk of the bus from the northbound lane with the bodies still on board, shrouded by tarps. The crowded interstate is a primary Hurricane Rita evacuation route.
The bus, surrounded by police cars and ambulances, was engulfed with flames and later reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell with large blue tarps covering many seats.
Peritz said the driver and arriving deputies tried to rescue as many passengers from the bus as possible but couldn't save everybody. He said the driver survived.
"It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people," he said.
The fire caused a 17-mile backup on a freeway that was already heavily congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast.
State officials said northbound traffic was diverted off I-45 onto U.S. Highway 287 at Ennis, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas.
I-45 stretches more than 250 miles from Galveston through Houston to Dallas.
Bellaire city officials defended the decision to evacuate the elderly patients from the Brighton Gardens nursing home.
?(Evacuating was) the right decision," Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel said. "Brighton Gardens was following their evacuation procedures. Just 24 hours ago, (Houston) was expected to take the brunt of Hurricane Rita, Brighton Gardens was doing their job to get their patients to safety"
"Unfortunately, this is a tragedy that we are very saddened by. I don?t think anyone can ever plan for every tragedy that can occur,? Siegel said.
Siegel said relatives of residents at Brighton Gardens should contact the nursing home directly at (713) 665-3888 to obtain information on their conditions.
