I'm starting to get sick of living on the fucking Gulf Coast, frankly:
Hurricane Ike's turn toward the Houston area spurred emergency officials this morning to call for a mandatory evacuation of residents in areas that will be subject to a massive storm surge.
Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas also expanded the evacuation order there to cover the entire island. In addition, Chambers County, which had initially ordered only the evacuation of low-lying businesses and homes, this morning ordered the entire county to evacuate by noon, and a voluntary evacuation has been called for in Liberty County.
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett called for mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas starting at noon today. Those residents are in evacuation zones A and B, specifically ZIP codes 77058, 77059, 77062, 77520, 77546, 77571, 77586 and 77598.
Emmett asked all other Harris County residents to prepare to shelter in place, saying residents whose homes could be inundated by storm surges needed time and room to get to safety.
In an ironically fortuitous turn of events, we made vacation plans to go to Tampa to visit my grandmother this weekend about six months ago. I'm posting this from Belleair Beach, as it happens, so sometimes timing works out in my favor. However, to add more bad news to this weekend, my mother and I actually bumped our flights up to last night because my grandmom had taken a turn for the worse. Unfortunately, she passed away before we could get here.
I'll have a more fitting post about her later. Right now, I'm anxiously awaiting the call from The Wife that she and SWSNBN have made their flight out. After that, I plan on spending a good chunk of the coming weekend sitting on a deck chair with a drink, watching the surf and the pelicans, and trying not to think about what Ike is doing to my house.
To all my friends in Houston, whether you're sheltering in place or bugging out, please be safe.
And if someone wanted to drive by our place on Sunday morning and let me know if I need to extend our stay here, that'd be cool too.
Same sentiments, Pete. I’ll bet your grandmother was a gallant lady.
And thank God you got out, and hopefully your wife and your kid have done the same. In fact, when I read the reports about Ike turning to Houston to piss on it, I thought, “Oh shit, I hope Pete’s outta there.”
As long as it’s a wake, you can drink as many beers as you want. It’s all about how much you loved your gran.
(Seriously, sorry to hear about that. And we’ll do our best to blow Ike away from your house.)
Hey Pete, Sorry about your grandmother, know how much you enjoyed your time with her, sounded like one cool lady! Thinking of you and yours. JudyCK
Our condolences, Pete. We’ll have a look at your place on Sunday morning and let you know.
Pete - I’m sorry to hear about your grandma. My thoughts & prayers are with you & your family. I’ve been thinking about all of my old high school friends who are in Houston now - I’m hoping that they are all safe & Ike doesn’t do too much damage.
I’m sorry for your loss. Bon and I will check out your house as weather and roads permit.
Sorry, also, to hear about your grandmother. Hope your family is safe, and that, when all is said and done, that the storm did little damage.
Condolences Pete. I lost my mom during Rita (unrelated to the storm). There is no good time for a death in the family, but these conditions make it almost unbearable. My thoughts are with you FWIW.
Sorry to hear about your grandmother Pete. Best to you and your family, and hopefully things won’t get too bad back home in Houston.