Thanks to my dad for the pointer:
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Isaiah 43: 1-3a (NRSV)
My Mom & Dad stayed in Beaumont, and are fine. No power, lost the decorative shutters on the front of the house, some shingles, and an old pear tree that hadn’t produced in years. The big sign at the store got knocked down, but that was it. Overall, extremely lucky.
Had power flicker three times over the course of 12 hours. The last time this morning, though, it set off my tenant’s alarm, which brought 5 patrol cars and a fire truck!
Will post some pics later, though, really, not much to report.
For some well-written coverage (as opposed to the vast majority of the pabulum that passes for journalism these days), please see Chuck Squatriglia’s coverage for the San Francisco Chronicle, and Ron Francell’s blog (he is a managing editor for the Beaumont Enterprise).
Pics from my bike ride this afternoon can be found at
http://joewhite.com/images/rita/Friday/Friday.html
Also, here is the map that Dr. Bedient of Rice’s Civil Engineering Department did showing the probably flood areas from a 15 ft and 22 ft storm surge coupled with a hundred-year flood, which, fortunately, it appears we will not be experiencing (click for the full scan).
Forgot to take “before” pics of the utility lines over my house, but here are some “after” ones, taken with my Treo:
Went over at 8 this morning to get the trimmings that fell into my neighbor’s backyard, but couldnt’ get anyone to answer the gate, and when I went around to hop the fence in the back, saw that someone had already tossed them over the fence. Sorry!
In all the running around yesterday, forgot to get gas for my car and oil for the generator. Found the oil at the Diamond Shamrock on Almeda at Southmore, and gas at the DS at Main and Elgin. The line at the latter was about an hour long when I got there, but I had a book. People on the whole were being very friendly and good-natured about things, but a couple of people were not. The store was closed, but the pumps were still on. Only two of the four pumps were working, and then only the premium, and they were only accepting credit cards, not debit. While I was waiting, some guy at the pump started being a jerk (I missed seeing what happened), and the police came by.
Everyone else was calm, and when he left everything returned to nice and easy. One guy was passing out water to folks, another volunteered to go buy some beer (Spec’s is still open!). When my turn came, I had to back in to get the hose to reach. While pumping, a lady pulled in behind me. Here is our conversation:
“Excuse me, ma’am, but the line has formed on the other side.”
“Then why are you facing this way?”
“I had to back in so the hose would reach.”
“Well, I didn’t know that.”
“Yes ma’am, that’s why I’m telling you…the line is on the other side.”
“Well, they should have gotten in on this side.”
“Folks have been waiting for an hour or more in line.”
“You just get your own gas and mind your own business.”
Sigh.
Got the generator set up and it fired up like a champ. Going to hop on my bike and snap pics around town, then come back and nap before tonight. Again, if you are in town, come on over!
If you’re following things from out of town, will continue posting as I can. If the track continues as projected, will wait for things to settle down, then head to Beaumont late tomorrow or Sunday to help out my folks.