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I am involved in emergency planning activities, specifically in flood plain management. I have been receiving detailed reports concerning Hurricane IKE.
The latest forecast calls for the center of IKE to move inland near Corpus Christi around sunrise Saturday morning. Depending on the speed of a cold front dropping south out of the Rockies, the center of IKE looks to turn northwest and eventually to north, tracking across Central Texas late Saturday into Sunday. Even though the forecast for IKE indicates the center will move inland over the southern coast of Texas, IKE will be a large and powerful storm and will greatly impact most of South and Central Texas.
This forecast reads nearly the same as for RITA in September 2005. Many of our Power Wagon friends were in areas that were being evacuated. We held a "RITA Evacuation" party at Pat and Wanda's and hoped for the best.
Instead of continuing to move WNW and coming ashore around Corpus Christi, RITA took a sudden right turn and moved north along the Louisiana, Texas border. My son was stationed at Fort Polk, LA, as the installation G4 (Logistics Officer) and was on duty at the post during the whole passing of RITA. Ironically, my daughter-in-law, also an officer in the US Army, was here in Texas at nearby Fort Hood on temporary duty. My grandchildren rode out the hurricane at home in DeRidder, LA, with some friends.
My wife and daughter-in-law headed to DeRidder and brought the grandkids back here to Texas and they stayed with us until power and other utilities were restored.
Hurricane RITA was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. RITA was much worse than Katrina, yet Katrina got all the media attention. Of course, the taxpayers were interested in the underwater city they all support. The wailing and gnashing of teeth by a few who chose to remain in the underwater city in spite of timely warnings also made for compelling news coverage.
As we travelled back and forth from Kempner to DeRidder the next months, we saw all of the residents affected by RITA in western Louisiana and eastern Texas rolling up their sleeves and doing what was needed to “Git ‘R Done.” There was no wailing and gnashing of teeth. They cleaned up around their homes and their communities. They showed a sense of responsibility and pride in themselves. The media apparently felt that good people doing good things was not what their audiences wanted to see, and they were very scarce.
I’m posting this in “Events and Outings” because Pat and Wanda’s Tailgate Party is usually held in September. We had the “RITA Evacuation Party” in September. We would never cancel the event at Pat and Wanda’s so I guess we may have to add an “IKE Evacuation Party” to our September 2008 events schedule.
PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY
The latest forecast calls for the center of IKE to move inland near Corpus Christi around sunrise Saturday morning. Depending on the speed of a cold front dropping south out of the Rockies, the center of IKE looks to turn northwest and eventually to north, tracking across Central Texas late Saturday into Sunday. Even though the forecast for IKE indicates the center will move inland over the southern coast of Texas, IKE will be a large and powerful storm and will greatly impact most of South and Central Texas.
This forecast reads nearly the same as for RITA in September 2005. Many of our Power Wagon friends were in areas that were being evacuated. We held a "RITA Evacuation" party at Pat and Wanda's and hoped for the best.
Instead of continuing to move WNW and coming ashore around Corpus Christi, RITA took a sudden right turn and moved north along the Louisiana, Texas border. My son was stationed at Fort Polk, LA, as the installation G4 (Logistics Officer) and was on duty at the post during the whole passing of RITA. Ironically, my daughter-in-law, also an officer in the US Army, was here in Texas at nearby Fort Hood on temporary duty. My grandchildren rode out the hurricane at home in DeRidder, LA, with some friends.
My wife and daughter-in-law headed to DeRidder and brought the grandkids back here to Texas and they stayed with us until power and other utilities were restored.
Hurricane RITA was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. RITA was much worse than Katrina, yet Katrina got all the media attention. Of course, the taxpayers were interested in the underwater city they all support. The wailing and gnashing of teeth by a few who chose to remain in the underwater city in spite of timely warnings also made for compelling news coverage.
As we travelled back and forth from Kempner to DeRidder the next months, we saw all of the residents affected by RITA in western Louisiana and eastern Texas rolling up their sleeves and doing what was needed to “Git ‘R Done.” There was no wailing and gnashing of teeth. They cleaned up around their homes and their communities. They showed a sense of responsibility and pride in themselves. The media apparently felt that good people doing good things was not what their audiences wanted to see, and they were very scarce.
I’m posting this in “Events and Outings” because Pat and Wanda’s Tailgate Party is usually held in September. We had the “RITA Evacuation Party” in September. We would never cancel the event at Pat and Wanda’s so I guess we may have to add an “IKE Evacuation Party” to our September 2008 events schedule.
PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY
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