Rita hasn't even made landfall (as of this writing) and the finger pointing has already begun: 100-mile gridlock, no gas available for evacuees, contraflow lanes not opened in a timely manner. There will definitely be some serious questions raised in the coming weeks about how all this was handled.
And yet.
I don't regret our decision to take off at all. On Wednesday, we were being told that a Cat-5 monstrosity was potentially coming up the Ship Channel. Maybe, maybe were it just me or The Wife and me, we would've hunkered down with a crate of fine champ-an-ya and some Luther Vandross, but there was no way I was prepared to ride it out with a 21 month-old, especially under 90-foot trees. Will I be sheepishly unscrewing the plywood from my windows on Sunday? Not at all. Given the same circumstances and same forecasts, I wouldn't have acted any differently.
The Cunning Plan now is to head back early AM on Saturday and take super secret back roads as we get closer into town. It was great seeing Mom for an unexpected visit (and allowing She Who Shall Not Be Named to draw on somebody else's furniture with crayons), even if I did have to clean out her garage, but we're ready to come home and loot find some unattended belongings.
I hope our neighbor's boat trailer is still out there.
No one who left should regret their decision. Just because RIta weakened and veered east doesn't mean that it couldn't have remained cat 5 and hit Houston dead on.
Those who left were engaged in self-defense. I'd have been right there with you.
All in all, rather uneventful around here. Our friends in the Heights have been without power since midnight. Lots of branches everywhere, but no damage, other than the Otto's sign across the street.
I guess this was a good lesson all around. Now we have seen the ability (and some inability) for an area as densely populated as we are to either head out of harm's way or bunker down. I hope when one really comes, people will take it as seriously.
I hope everyone has an easier drive in than out. I bet we can't get back to business as usual til Tuesday (don't you just love Aimee Mann...) because people won't be able to get back. We'll see.
Hey, I'd have gotten the heck outa Dodge in the same situation, and I don't have a 21 month old or a wife to concern myself with.
Happy scavenging....
Pete, you did the right thing. It's always best to choose survival over pride. Isn't pride the trait that keeps us in bad situations or keeps us from obeying our instincts?
Yeah but pride makes our penises bigger and how can us American men refuse that? ;)
I sneaked (that's right, kiddies--"sneaked" is the real word, not "snuck") away from work to check on my swanky bachelor pad, and not only is everything ok, but it seems like I never even lost power, as my ice bucket isn't a solid mass. Hell, I still have freaking cable, which normally goes out at even the hint of rain.
Totally bizarre. Fortuitous, but bizarre.
Rory, a penis is a terrible thing to waste. ;
Exactly, and that's why we keep our pride.
I don't regret our decision either.
Monday at work is going to suck, however. They wanted us to stay until halfway through thursday, which would have meant either staying there thinking a cat 5 hurricane is going to squash us, or sitting in the most insane traffic gridlock in US history thinking a cat 5 hurricane is going to squash us.
No regrets here. None at all.