<p>Guess I’m not having guests from Victoria after all. Looks like they are catching a break there. But now all the Clear Lake family is coming in.</p>
<p>Sigh…now I have to find an HOA board member and let him know some genius has decided to store his boat and a trailer full of jetskis on the street.</p>
<p>ldmom–
I think there might have been differing procedures during Rita, as my son, who was living off campus at the time, was evacuated, and many Rice students left. I can’t recall how many stayed on campus, but many, many Rice students left. My s parked his car in the medical center parking decks during the storm. And, when he returned the gates were up so he didn’t have to pay a dime!!</p>
<p>Rice is really well taken care of, in terms of flooding. Phil, the hydrology professor, wouldn’t dare let that campus flood on his watch! It’s a point of pride.</p>
<p>Do you know they are not doing a mandatory evacuation of Galveston Island (just the west end)? It’s an island, for crying out loud!! Every coastal county has mandatory evacuations but not Galveston Island. I hope that people there watch the news and figure out on their own to get out.</p>
<p>Wow. While I was just typing that, it came over the t.v. that they ARE calling for a mandatory evacuation of Galveston Island. Whew!! I think that means they have to provide transportation out for those who don’t have it. I’m sure that’s why they hadn’t called for it already, because logistically it’s a nightmare to make that happen that fast. </p>
<p>My sister was driving from Houston to San Antonio yesterday and passed a convoy of 252 buses headed for Houston. So, I hope they can get everyone out that needs to get out.</p>
<p>OK timely-- spill the beans. How fast was your sister driving if she passed 252 busses (or should I ask, how slow were the busses going), and how did she count them all???</p>
<p>Very long e-mail from the company president-- our office is closed tomorrow, get the heck outta Dodge City… “Safety of our employees is paramount,” “do not underestimate the power of this major storm.”</p>
<p>Rice is still open for classes tomorrow, as of right now. Waiting to make the final call as to whether or not we’re going to evacuate.</p>
<p>Good luck to all my Houston and Tx coast friends. Thoughts are with you. I feel terribly for all of you, but am feeling a bit selfish, and glad that (a) its not back in NOLA and (b) older s is no longer in Houston. (Don’t mean for that to sound unkind-- hope it didn’t come off wrong).
Off to take DH back to the hospital-- complications from his surgery yesterday.
Good luck to all of you – thoughts are with you.</p>
<p>and LDmom- if you evacuate, take that bottle with you!!! :D</p>
<p>LOL, Jym! I asked my sister the same thing! You were counting the buses?? She said she wasn’t 100% certain of the number because she might have missed a couple. :)</p>
<p>Back to filling water jugs…</p>
<p>Can’t get in touch with my SIL in League City, she’s probably already gone to Plano - she doesn’t work, has 3 little ones and her husband is out of the country, so she leaves at the drop of a hat.
Our thoughts are with you guys, been there done that. For the Rice parents, isn’t Rice fairly close tothe Med Centers? The worst thing about the aftermath is the days and days without power, but places with underground utilities and those that are on the same ?grids, ?substations, as hospitals or other vital orgs, get power back fairly fast.</p>
<p>Just got back from the grocery store (just needed a few things) - not a cart to be found, had to park waaayyy in the back. Don’t want to go near the freeway (shudder remembering Rita a few years back).</p>
<p>jymmie - sorry about the surgery complications. So far we are ‘hunkering down’…might be good time to pop the cork on that bottle! :)</p>
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<p>Rice is directly across the street from the med center, and all the utilities are underground. Rice usually gets power back pretty quickly in comparison to parts of the rest of the city, because TMC has high priority for getting back online.</p>
<p>Good luck with your husband, jym! We’ll weather things okay here.</p>
<p>well, my friend going to San Antonio cancelled her trip, and now my niece in Pearland is trying to figure out what to do. Her husband is a resident at the Medical Center, and they have two young two and under. I don’t think she wants to risk being stuck at home with them by herself.</p>
<p>timely, I thought I’d heard there were mandatory evacs for Galveston, the entire island.</p>
<p>Rice did cancel classes for tomorrow. During Rita the kids who did leave got stuck for so long on the highway they wouldn’t leave again this time. Rice is a good place to be. My son said last time they had a great party time while in the protected areas, so I’m not as worried this time, although it still is scary to have your child so far away with a massive hurricane heading right for him.
When he was in Japan one summer he had an earthquake, the scare of a tidal wave and a typhoon the same weekend.</p>
<p>Last year during O-week at Rice, they told parents that Rice has its own generator and enough food to keep the kids fed for several days. They reassured us that it’s better to stay on campus. </p>
<p>That being said, it is tough to have your child so far away with a major hurricane bearing down. S is off campus this year, but we urged him to get on campus and stay put.</p>
<p>Our ISP just called and said they will be powering down their tower today, so we won’t have internet…which is really great since that’s how we could get much of our info! :(</p>
<p>So…I guess I’ll check in when we are up and running again.</p>
<p>Not sure where Rice is in Houston, but I just read that Texas is asking that ONLY residents in 8 specific zip codes evacuate. The rest should just “hunker down.” I guess that leaves the roads clear for those who REALLY can’t stay in their location.</p>
<p>I have a friend in Sugar Land, which looks to be Southwest of Houston. She and her family are staying put.</p>
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<p>Rice is smack in the middle of Houston, in the “hunker down” zone.</p>
<p>Only 8 zip codes in **Harris County<a href=“the%20county%20in%20which%20Houston%20is%20located”>/B</a> are being required to evacuate. Those are the southerly and SE part of the county. Several other entire Texas counties have been evacuated, too.</p>