Are the Texas Board members getting ready for

[BERIGAN]

It took forever to go from a tropical storm to a minimal Hurricane Tuesday Morning...now it has 115 MPH winds and 4 days to cross the warm gulf waters! Don't think that if you are inland, say Austin...that you can't suffer some major problems. Remember when Hurricane Hugo came ashore around Charlston? Remember what happened to Charlotte, well inland????

While the eye passed over Charleston, the storm's most intense region, known as the dangerous semi-circle, came ashore still further north between the small towns of Awendaw and McClellanville in the Francis Marion National Forest, breaking off most mature trees. In McClellanville, a small fishing village, residents took refuge in Lincoln High School, and were surprised by the sudden tidal surge which flooded the school. With water pouring into the rooms, the refugees helped one another in pitch darkness to climb into the space in the hanging ceiling above the rooms. All survived.

The storm moved rapidly, with the center passing over Moncks Corner and close to Sumter, destroying homes, timber, and the area cotton crop.

By the time it reached Charlotte, it was still strong enough to topple many trees across roads and houses and leave many without power for as long as two weeks. The last death caused by the storm was in East Aurora, New York near Buffalo when the winds toppled a tree onto a motorist.

After the storm, then Governor of South Carolina, Carroll Campbell, said that the storm destroyed enough timber to frame a home for every family in the state of West Virginia. He also noted that there were about 3,000 tornadoes embedded within the hurricane, which accounts for extensive damage in some areas not within the path of the eyewall.

I remember after the storm, a radio station in Jacksonville was the only contact Charlotte had to the outside world...so stock up!

Lets all hope and pray this storm implodes before landfall!

Edited September 21, 2005 by BERIGAN

[Jazzmoose]

Um. Let me go wake up Barb and ask her just why it was we're moving down South again...

[jazzbo]

No one here in Austin seems worried yet. There's the big Austin City Liimits Festival this weekend, and as part of my job I inquired of ACL and the festival promoters what their plans were for rain out or Rita-effects and they literally drew a blank. "It's going to go on rain or shine" they said.

Seems unlikely we'll get much here in the way of high winds but. . . I'll make enough space under Helen's great-grandmother's incredibly sturdy dining room table for Helen and Marge Bouvier Haggerty-Armstrong (our cat) and myself. . . . Bout the best I can do!

[BERIGAN]

All you can do is your best....Might fill up some milk jugs with water if the stores are out of water...less likely you will have water problems than Electricity problems, but you never know if there are major power outages, the water might not pump.... Best to get prescriptions filled early, etc...

Now the storm at 8 am the storm is a Cat 4 with 135 MPH winds....

[jazzbo]

Well, currently there are about 12 gallons of distilled water in the house, kept on hand because of the ten gallon salt water fish tank we have. . . . We buy about 15 at a time because we don't have a car so we get these in a cab every two months or so.

Here's hoping that this is not as bad a storm as it possibly could be.

[Aggie87]

No mandatory evacuations here yet - school is on as normal for my kids today.

But many folks are beginning to board up their windows, and I hear there's a run on bottled water at the stores.

I'm going to wait another 24 hrs or so, to see where this thing is going, then make my decision on whether to leave the area or not.

Who's playing at the ACL Fest, Lon?

[jazzbo]

Coldplay

Widespread Panic

Oasis

The Black Crowes

The Allman Brothers Band

Wilco

Roky Erickson & The Explosives

Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Lyle Lovett & his Large Band

John Prine

Lucinda Williams

Buddy Guy

Jet

Dierks Bentley

Thievery Corporation

Arcade Fire

Death Cab for Cutie

Bob Mould Band

Built to Spill

Bloc Party

Steve Earle & The Dukes

Blues Traveler

Franz Ferdinand

Gov't Mule

Drive-By Truckers

Kasabian

Zap Mama

Robert Earl Keen

Keane

Tortoise

Doves

The Black Keys

Kaiser Chiefs

Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon

The Walkmen

Jason Mraz

Rilo Kiley

Spoon

The Decemberists

The Bravery

Eisley

Blue October

Grupo Fantasma

Kermit Ruffins

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Bettye La Vette

Rev. Dan Willis & The All Nations Choir

Morgan Heritage

Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca

Ruthie Foster

deSol

The Frames

Mates of State

Mindy Smith

Martin Sexton

The Fiery Furnaces

Aterciopelados

Kathleen Edwards

Asleep at the Wheel

M83

Tegan and Sara

Mike Doughty's Band

Split Lip Rayfield

Rachael Yamagata

Bobby Bare Jr.

Mofro

The Ditty Bops

The New Amsterdams

Ambulance Ltd

Slightly Stoopid

dios (malos)

Brave Combo

Aqualung

Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men

John Butler Trio

Bruce Robison

Missy Higgins

Nine Black Alps

Kevin Fowler

Jack Ingram

Cory Morrow

Grady

The Weary Boys

Wayne “The Train” Hancock

Monte Warden

Zykos

Soundteam

Asylum Street Spankers

Pong

Oliver Future

The Real Heroes

Bukka Allen

Hairy Apes BMX

Nic Armstrong & The Thieves

The Lost Trailers

The Gospel Stars

Donna The Buffalo

The Shields of Faith

Star Kids Yoga

The Jones Family Singers

South Austin Jug Band

The Lighthouse Singers

Kacy Crowley

Casey McPherson

Tristan Prettyman

The Massacoustics

Joe McDermott

Sara Hickman

Anthropos

The Palm Elementary School Choir

Lucas Miller

Imagination Movers

Free Sõl

Jeff Black

KJAE

Austin Hartley-Leonard

Maneja Beto

Austin Collins Band

The Biscuit Brothers

Naturally Seven

Patrick Davis

Kelley Hunt

Kate York

The Experiment Experience

[Ron S]

I can see why they're not too keen on the possibility of cancelling it.

[JSngry]

Dallas is far enough in that we should be safe enough. We could definitely use some rain, though.

[Adam]

It would be simpler to list who is not playing at the festival.

[kh1958]

And some cooler weather--100 degrees in late September is pretty brutal.

Dallas is far enough in that we should be safe enough. We could definitely use some rain, though.

←

[jazzbo]

Amen.

Not unusual for Austin the last few years, just brutal!

Edited September 21, 2005 by jazzbo

[Soul Stream]

It would be simpler to list who is not playing at the festival.

←

Me and many other locals. I guess for ACL you have to be from outside the City Limits. Matter of fact, I'm playing the Continental Club on Sat., opening for Alejendro Escovedo who's very big in town, but ACL wouldn't pay him a decent salary for playing ACL so he didn't do it. ACL is notorious for not paying the locals and basically not hiring the locals either.

[BruceH]

Well, currently there are about 12 gallons of distilled water in the house, kept on hand because of the ten gallon salt water fish tank we have. . . . We buy about 15 at a time because we don't have a car so we get these in a cab every two months or so. 

Here's hoping that this is not as bad a storm as it possibly could be.

←

Amen to that. ENOUGH with the storms already!

[Free For All]

I think where ever this storm hits we will see a much more organized level of response which will to some extent be a result of the poorly handled LA/MS situation. I'm noticing that on the news channels- a greater frequency of press briefings,etc. I think the high level of anxiety that has existed since Katrina is being acknowledged and addressed by officials, which is good because this is a big ass storm- cat. 5 now! I think/hope the victims of this storm will be better cared for- the emergency response agencies know all eyes are upon them, and I'm hopeful that they will have their act together. Looks like the local officials in the Galveston area are doing a good job. I have great sympathy for the victims of Katrina, but if something can be learned from that experience hopefully we can better handle similar events in the future.

I hope all our friends down there will be OK. I expect we'll see remnants of this storm all the way up here in KC.

[Big Deal]

Very cool Soulstream! When I was down in Austin back in May I looked into going to the Continental Club as it seemed like a cool place to go, but if I remember right it was a country act and so I just drove on by instead. Too bad it hadn't been you.

[Soul Stream]

Very cool Soulstream! When I was down in Austin back in May I looked into going to the Continental Club as it seemed like a cool place to go, but if I remember right it was a country act and so I just drove on by instead. Too bad it hadn't been you.

←

I'll be there Sat....probably riding out a Cat. 2 by then... . Actually wonder if it will be that powerful by the time it comes over Austin. Haven't heard anything of that nature, but that storm's looking pretty darn big right now. Thinking about sending the wife and kids up to friends in Dallas just to be safe...

[BERIGAN]

As Free For All mentioned, now a Category 5 with 165 MPH winds! Times 100!

I guess we are all getting more info than we ever did before about storms. There is some section of the gulf(can't find the name, anyone else hear of it?) that both this storm and Katrina went thru that has the hottest water of all the Gulf...then this storm will go over some cooler water, and the water is more shallow near the coast as well...but...Katrina went from 175 MPH to 145, did that really make much difference in damage level???

I hear they are having trouble getting people to leave.....Galveston! Good God people! They have buses that anyone can use to leave, and you can bring your animals if they are in a cage...and people want to stay in that city, of all cities!!!

[vibes]

From weather.com:

Hurricane Rita's rapid intensification cycle that began Tuesday afternoon continues. Top winds are up to 165 mph, now a category 5 hurricane. Rita's pressure has dramatically dropped to 898 millibars! Even as a large and extremely intense category 5 hurricane, further strengthening is possible as the atmosphere remains favorable for development over the next 24 hours.

Rita's now the third most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, according to weather.com.

Best wishes to everyone in Texas and other areas that might be affected by this.

[JSngry]

Evacuation is not as easy as you might think! Fortunately, the lessons of Katrina do not seem to have been lost on most Texans.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050922/D8CPG0RG8.html

Houston Residents Struggle to Get Inland

Sep 22, 3:04 PM (ET)

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -

Hundreds of thousands of people across the Houston metropolitan area struggled to make their way inland in a vast, bumper-to-bumper exodus Thursday as Hurricane Rita closed in on the nation's fourth-largest city with winds howling at 150 mph.

Drivers ran out of gas in 14-hour traffic jams or looked in vain for a place to stay as hotels hundreds of miles in from the coast filled up. Others got tired of waiting in traffic and turned around and went home.

An estimated 1.8 million residents or more in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to evacuate to avoid a deadly repeat of Katrina....

....Highways leading inland out of Houston, a metropolitan area of 4 million people, were clogged up to 100 miles north of the city. Service stations reported running out of gasoline, and police officers carried gas to motorists who ran out. Texas authorities also asked the Pentagon for help in getting gasoline to drivers stuck in traffic, and sent gasoline tankers to take up positions along evacuation routes to help.

To speed the evacuation, Gov. Rick Perry halted all southbound traffic into Houston along Interstate 45 and took the unprecedented step of opening all eight lanes to northbound traffic out of the city for 125 miles. I-45 is the primary evacuation route north from Houston and nearby Galveston.

Trazanna Moreno tried to leave Houston for the 225-mile trip to Dallas on U.S. 90 but turned back after getting stuck in traffic.

"We ended up going six miles in two hours and 45 minutes," said Moreno, whose neighborhood is not expected to flood. "It could be that if we ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere that we'd be in a worse position in a car dealing with hurricane-force winds than we would in our house."

With traffic at a dead halt, fathers and sons got out of their cars and played catch on freeway medians. Others stood next to their cars, videotaping the scene, or walked between vehicles, chatting with people along the way. Tow trucks tried to wend their way along the shoulders, pulling stalled cars out of the way.

Hotels filled up all the way to the Oklahoma and Arkansas line.

John Decker, 47, decided to board up his home and hunker down because he could not find a hotel room.

"I've been calling since yesterday morning all the way up to about 1 this morning. No vacancies anywhere," he said. "I checked all the way from here to Del Rio to Eagle Pass. I called as far as Lufkin, San Marcos, San Angelo. The only place I didn't call was El Paso. By the time you reach El Paso, it's almost time to turn back."....

....Although Houston is 60 miles inland, it is a low-lying, flat, sprawling city whose vast stretches of concrete cover clay soil that does not easily soak up water. The city is beribboned with seven bayous that overflow their banks even in a strong thunderstorm. Those bayous feed into the Ship Channel, Clear Lake and Galveston Bay.

Scientists have warned that the storm surge from a hurricane could cause the bayous' currents to reverse, pushing water back into the city and swamping mostly poor, Hispanic neighborhoods on the southeast side of Houston.

Along the Gulf Coast, federal, state and local officials heeded the bitter lessons of Katrina: Hundreds of buses were dispatched to evacuate the poor. Hospital and nursing home patients were cleared out. And truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals, and rescue and medical teams were put on standby.

Texas authorities also planned to airlift at least 9,000 people from Beaumont and Houston, including nursing home residents and the homeless.

"Now is not a time for warnings. Now is a time for action," Houston Mayor Bill White said.

Galveston was a virtual ghost town by late Wednesday. The coastal city of 58,000 - situated on an island 8 feet above sea level - was nearly wiped off the map in 1900 when an unnamed hurricane killed between 6,000 and 12,000 in what is still the nation's deadliest natural disaster.

LeBlanc, the city manager, said the storm surge from Rita could reach 50 feet. Galveston is protected by a nearly 11-mile-long granite seawall 17 feet tall.

"Not a good picture for us," LeBlanc said.

Anthony Jones, who lives on the west end of Galveston, arrived at an Austin evacuation center in the middle of the night with his wife.

"We're in the area without a seawall and understand what's coming," he said. His wife, Lila, added: "At this point we dont know whether we'll come home to splinters or what."

Joe Todaro from Santa Fe, Texas, near Galveston, said: "I've lived there for 75 years and this is the first hurricane that I've run from."

In Corpus Christi, about 180 miles down the coast from Galveston, buses were sent to evacuate hundreds of people with no other transportation. But the mandatory evacuation order was later dropped in favor of a voluntary one after it appeared that the city would escape a direct hit from Rita.

Houston is home to the biggest concentration of Katrina refugees from Louisiana. Rita forced many of them to pick up and leave again.

Among them was Tommy Green, 38. He was evacuated from his New Orleans-area home during Katrina, found temporary housing in Galveston and recently even received a job offer. On Thursday, he boarded a yellow school bus to safety.

"I'm trying to hold up," he said. "I'm tired of all this. It's tough."

Meanwhile, the death toll from Katrina passed the 1,000 mark in five Gulf Coast states, reaching 1,069 as of Thursday. The body count in Louisiana alone was put at 832, with most of the corpses found in the receding floodwaters of New Orleans.

One has to wonder how all of this would be going down if we did not have Katrina's precedent. But we do,

Edited September 22, 2005 by JSngry

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, my parents are leaving Houston for the northern suburbs tomorrow morning. I'm more than a little nervous - I mean, I think they'll be ok, but it's going to be a mess that nobody in our family particularly wants to deal with.

[understatement of the year]

[Soul Stream]

Looks like it's going a bit more east. Austin's out of the picture for any bad weather at all at this point, which is good news for us. Even 75mph winds sounded pretty frightening to me.

[Dan Gould]

And now I understand that the strong steering currents that are moving it so steadily NW are going to stop and the storm will sit over north Texas/OK Sunday through Tuesday with the potential for flash flooding?

I hate to admit my geographic ignorance, but I hadn't previously realized Houston's relative proximity to the Gulf. If it really comes ashore at Galveston and into Houston its gonna be mighty ugly.

[JSngry]

Houston's a maritime city, among other things!

[BERIGAN]

Dan mentioned the storm stopping...that could be a real, real problem! Flooding is a problem from a quick moving storm...I heard a hurricane reconnaissance guy(pilot?) say that Rita was by far the worst storm he had seen in his 7 years, including Katrina!