The moment of truth has come. No choice now but to stay – there is no gasoline available anywhere. I met people sitting at gas stations, waiting for a tanker, with their belongings and family stuffed in their cars.
The past two days the air has been still and hot – 100 degrees, and the sky was clear as we secured the house.
Today the temperature is much cooler and the wind has started to swirl. There is change in the air.
Yesterday the cars blocked all highways going north and west. People were running out of gas and sleeping in their cars. Stores were closing and the open ones had long lines. It felt like the set of some kind of bad movie.
Today the streets and freeways are empty; the stores are boarded up. A bus with elderly evacuees caught fire and killed over 20 as their oxygen bottles exploded.
We haven’t had national news in three days; it has just been local hurricane coverage 24/7. I have to read the papers online to know what is going on other than the storm.
Now Rita is licking the coast. She moves in tonight. The pine trees in the front yard a already swaying. I was worried about a friend in Port Arthur who is in a wheelchair and lives with his mother. Now it appears Port Arthur will be destroyed in the storm surge. I heard late today that they are in Arlington.
By this time tomorrow it will be blowing and we’ll have no power. Will try to do another update early morning if possible. If not, it will be sometime later…
No comments:
Post a Comment