Hurricane Advice

[NorthTexasWink]

I have 11 friends and their three pets from the coast sheltering with me since Thursday-Friday. Spent the previous week prepping for it "just in case". Thank goodness. An amazing amount of TP gets used!

News is trickling in to them from their contacts still on the Gulf. It is looking mighty grim folks. Many missing at this point. Some will turn up and we do hope all are soon accounted for. Estimates were that 40% of Rockport did not evacuate. That area is pretty devastated. Tornadoes have been running amok all through the area as well, increasing the damage. Over 2000 water rescues in just Houston so far. Over 13 ft of water on Houston roads near the bayous (big gullies).

So glad you are safe for now Kiki! Praying to those water gods, and anyone else who will listen, to kick this storm into gear and move its soggy butt away! Be safe and well.

 

[campingshaws]

The Cajun Navy has deployed and they're headed to Texas. They're an extremely well-organized group of volunteers who were invaluable in the rescue efforts in the Baton Rouge flooding last August.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

My old hurticane (yes, my family calls them "hurticanes") story: In 1972-73ish, I think it was Celia(?) that hit land near but not right on Beaumont. That was the storm when I rescued a bobcat kitten with its eyes still shut. Was crying in the brush-choked culvert where I had been watching its momma and siblings the day before. She was moving her babies before the storm, taking 20 minute trips but it really started up blowing and thundering and sheets of rain. She didn't come back, and the culvert was filling fast, so my little preteen soul wouldn't let me scuttle home before I got that baby. So I half swam through the brush into that big metal pipe in the dark listening for the mewls between the thunderbooms till I got hold of it, stuffed it in my wet shirt and dodged home. Hid that kitten under my bed or in my shirt from my parents for over a week. Not hard because the storm had been bad and a lot was going on. Fed it baby formula (my baby brother was still drinking it) and milk with honey and egg like my uncle taught me for regular kittens. I stole one of Daddy's white cotton hankies (back then most Southern men carried them) and would soak a tiny twist of it in the milk for the kitten to suckle, until it learned to lap it. His eyes opened and my mom heard him, and there was a big fight with Daddy (who hated cats), but they let me keep him. My other brother, about 4, named the kitten CattyCake, because he couldn't say PattyCake. CattyCake lived with us about 9 years, grew to about 45 pounds, and was a terrific pet. He was put down after someone shot him with a pellet rifle that damaged his spine. CattyCake was in his fenced enclosure in my yard, soaking up the sun at the time. I don't, now, recommend folks set out to keep wild animals as pets. But my experience with CattyCake the bobcat was wonderful.

 

[Bunnylady]

Thanks, I thought it was usually a "wham bam" type thing and then it was all over, cleanup begins, this seems to be taking forever.

Harvey was a large, powerful, well-developed storm traveling over quite warm water, so he was packing a lot of rain with him when he made landfall. Once he made it to Texas, he seemed to lose all sense of direction. He sort of wandered on shore, then stalled. Normally, once the eye gets over land, a storm loses strength rapidly, but Harvey never got very far inland, and with some of his feeder bands still over the warm Gulf water, Harvey managed to maintain a certain amount of structure; he just sat there and pumped all that Gulf moisture onto the land. Now the eye has backed out over the water again, and the storm has regained a little bit of strength. But it is a very lopsided, unhealthy looking storm with lots of dry areas; and it is finally (slowly) moving to the east and north. Some storms have strong steering currents that move them rapidly along their courses, but Harvey's currents were weak, and he was blocked from moving by ridges of high pressure. I've seen storms wobble and stagger and stall for days in this area, and I've seen them move along like they were on rails - it all depends on the rivers of air they are traveling in.

 

[aart]

Hang in there @KikisGirls!

So for humor, hope it doesn't offend.

Michigan looks better all the time! Mary

 

[NorthTexasWink]

I'll bbl. getting stuff on the grill and smoker and slow cookers to feed my new private army. Laundry, KP, garden, chicken wranglers/trainers are all on deck. Lol, never had this much help before! Hugs and best wishes for y'all. Stay safe!

 

[RUNuts]

Are you sure your not from here or did you just soak up a lot of the best qualities we have down here

T'Marie,
No, ma'am. Air Force brat. Moved all around when growing up. But my teen age years were SW Louisiana.

I was born way north of I-10. Way up yonder (wish I could type the Mamou accent!!) around Shreveport.

Good people. Fell in love & after 25 years, in spite of moving to Houston, we're still together. But I'm not sure it'll last. Ask me in another 25 years.

You can feel the relief in the air. Thanks for the prayers as we sort this out and count our blessings!

 

[Kiki]

I'M WATCHING TV AND BACK ON MY COMPUTER!!

 

[TriciaAnne]

Safe in Spring Hill Florida. Coop held up. Branch fell on run but can be fixed easily. Power is out but expected that.

 

[Flashpoint]

Just to let everyone know....

I received email from @JRNash a few minutes ago.

He is alive and well along with his family.

He said he was wiped out and lost most of his birds (this is from Harvey).

But his family is is doing well and they are ok.

And he's working!


(and I also posted this on the century of Turkey talk thread)