<p>Yes, the zip codes in Houston that are under a mandatory evacuation are in the low-lying coastal areas that expect a storm surge. Other areas (such as where Rice is located) wouldn’t have to be concerned about a storm surge, but the hurricane-force winds that are anticipated (currently expected to be about 100 mph after landfall). There are some concerns about flooding from heavy rain, but the biggest issue will be the wind. The news is essentially telling folks outside the coastal areas to “hide from the wind.” They should be fine at Rice if their in strong buildings away from windows. It is also expected that there will be widespread power outages, so being at Rice with a generator and food is the best place to be.</p>
<p>I just spoke with my Rice alum son (that sounds so weird-- still getting used to that). He clarified for me that during Rita those living off campus <em>were</em> invited back onto campus to stay, but he and his housemates decided to head to one of the roommates houses in San Anton. (took 14 hrs!) and many others who lived off campus also took unscheduled “road trips”. So I may have been wrong in my estimate of how many of the Rice kids headed out of town during Rita-- it just seemed like a lot b/c so many of my s’s friends left when he did.</p>
<p>That stinks that your ISP would power down at such a critical time!! You cant do without food, water and internet!!</p>
<p>I won’t take this thread OT and talk about the @@#$<em>)#%</em> screw up with my H’s anesthesia-- I’ll post it on another thread. This therad is for our friends on theGulf coast. Hang in there…</p>
<p>ldmom - thinking about you; touch base with us when you get a chance</p>
<p>DD is off campus at Rice and was just told to report to her residential college on campus at noon tomrorow where she will be sheltered with the students in her college. I am actually happier that she is not on the road with one of her friends who decided to evacuate to Austin. I remember the road issues with Rita. More people died on the road than in the storm. But it is hard having her so far away.</p>
<p>The reason so many Rice kids left during Rita was because they were going to have to stay in the gyms! With all the cars available, it seemed like a better idea to get out of Dodge! D,her boyfriend and another girl drove 12 hours home to Dallas (yes, I know it isn’t supposed to take 12 hours…) Arrived just as H and I were leaving to drive WildChild’s car up to him at boarding school in NJ.</p>
<p>Just an FYI- during Rita, the mayor foolishly spoke in such a way as to make the entire city of Houston and surrounding areas believe that they should evacuate. Therefore, the freeways were clogged, gas stations dried out and major panic set in. Yes, many people died on the roads, stranded without water and fuel in the blistering heat. </p>
<p>This time around, the city has handled this much better, I think- ordering mandatory evacuation only for those areas that are likely to be affected by the storm surge (the 8 zip codes earlier mentioned). </p>
<p>The Rice U area may see some street flooding, but the major danger would be wind damage and power outage from downed trees. Rice is surrounded by an old neighborhood with huge trees. </p>
<p>As for getting out of the city at this point- I10 west is clear (toward San Antonio and Austin) as is 290 North to Waco or 59 N to Lufkin. Stay off of 45N as there is no contrflow and the lanes decrease from 4 to 2 at the Woodlands. So- don’t go to Dallas.</p>
<p>A little good news in the latest discussion from the NHC (10AM CDT). Ike not expected to strengthen to Cat 3.</p>
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<p>This is still a very dangerous storm with a broad area of hurricane-force winds. In the case of Ike, peak winds are not the best measure of the damage this storm can inflict on a major metropolitan area. God be with those in its path.</p>
<p>I ended up evacuating after all. Yesterday morning (Friday), my mom called at 6 a.m. and said my dad had been freaking out all night because we didn’t leave. He couldn’t grasp that we are 40 miles inland and at 52 ft. elevation and were in no danger from the storm surge. Dad has a heart condition and he was so distraught that I was afraid he would have a heart attack. So, we decided I would leave and H would stay. He still had 3 hours or so of work to do securing everything (we live on a farm and have animals), and we didn’t want to wait and leave so late that we’d be driving in deteriorating conditions and get stuck out in the storm in our car!</p>
<p>As I am watching the storm come in on t.v., we live just west of where it is coming in and H should be fine. Our house is only 8 years old and was built to windstorm specifications, so it’s very sturdy. Other stuff on the farm, including the silo built in 1905, might not hold up. We’ll see in the morning!</p>
<p>timely - I heard Brennans burned down last night. Wow! That was a true Houston tradition.</p>
<p>Yes, I heard about Brennans. Very sad…especially the father and daughter badly burned. :(</p>
<p>I talked to H this morning! He is fine and the house is fine. Fortunately, our land line phone did not go down, so we can communicate. Lots of trees down…we live on acreage, so we have a lot of trees. One sheet metal side of a barn blew off, and H said the barn doesn’t look very structurally sound now. The animals are all fine, though likely traumatized.</p>
<p>Here is the funny thing…I asked H if I would have been scared if I had been there. He said, “Well, I pretty much slept through the whole thing.” Then, as he listed the damage, he told me that a fairly large tree that is about 10 yards from our bedroom was uprooted and 1 front porch ceiling fan was ripped out of the porch ceiling and the other one’s blades were gone. This is also right outside our bedroom window. So…yeah…no big deal; I could have slept through that…not! :)</p>
<p>The worst part is that we could be <em>weeks</em> without power. Weeks without power?? What does that even look like? :-/ I’ll probably wait a day or two, then pick up more supplies here before heading home. We have a generator, and my parents have an extra window unit a/c, so I am thinking I can bring that and we can put it on a spare bedroom so we’ll have a cool place to sleep and to take breaks.</p>
<p>I am anxiously watching t.v. right now to find out how those people fared who stayed in Galveston. The surge wasn’t as high as expected, so I hope that most of them survived.</p>
<p>on my iPhone, near downtown Houston at my apt. Roof leaked badly and lost a tree; sat and watched it go. Watched transformers pop all night, lost count at 25, 30… Contained the leaking pretty well. Are going out to check on cars, take pictures of damage to our property. Will check in periodically, but we at least are all okay here. Godspeed to others.</p>
<p>^^ Glad you are OK. I was thinking about you.</p>
<p>Aibarr, Great to hear from you. Glad to hear you are both OK. Timely, I wouldn’t have slept through it either! When Isabel came roaring up the Chesapeake a few years ago, the house groaned all night. Sounded like it was haunted, and we were far from the real excitemnent. Four days without power was enough here. Prayers to all our CC families in the affected areas. Stay safe.</p>
<p>H drove over to check on his parents today (about 15 miles), and he was able to drive there without any problem, AND while he was over there, their power came back on! So, they invited him to spend the night there, and I really encouraged him to do that. </p>
<p>Driving over there, he said it was funny seeing so many people sitting in their yards in lawn chairs reading a book or something like that with broken branches and debris all around them. We were speculating that there will be lots of people who don’t know their neighbors who will be getting to know them when everyone is spending a lot of time outside and everyone will be cooking out tonight. So, that’s all good.</p>
<p>H had checked our generator before the storm came and it worked fine, but today when he tried to use it, it sputtered and stopped. Gas was left in it and he thinks it’s gummed up. So, he’s working on that. I am lucky to have a handy H.</p>
<p>Since I am staying with my parents a couple hundred miles away, I can stock up on things before I go home, so that will be good. Living in a rural area, we expect that we might be on the later end of getting our power back on. EXCEPT that we have a neighbor who works for the power company and drives one of those electric trucks, so we can hope that will work to our advantage. :)</p>
<p>so far, so good from everyone here. Nothing that can’t be replaced or salvaged I’m guessing (except favorite trees!). I hope it stays that way.</p>
<p>Glad to hear Timely, Teriwtt and Aibarr - good to know you are safe!</p>
<p>Our Texas CC friends-thanks for checking in and letting us know how you’re doing!</p>
<p>cangel - sorry for the lack of clarification. I don’t live there; I was just making an observation from the posts I’d read on here from CC Texans.</p>
<p>cangel, I may have spoken too soon. Yes, I still don’t live in Texas, but as of last night, the Chicago area broke its all time record for a one-calendar day rainfall (6.63 inches), and that was not due from Ike. They’re saying the rain we’re getting right now is from Ike, and we can expect another 4+ inches today. Many people have been flooded out of their homes, and many more have many feet of water in their basements. Of course, at least we have power (no wind involved).</p>
<p>A week ago Thursday, I heard our back-up sump pump alarm going off; after nine years our main sump pump finally bit the dust, and the battery operated back-up sump pump had kicked in (however, we discovered the back up didn’t have enough power to expel the water completely out of the drain). Husband spent that Friday night installing a new sump pump, and back-up sump pump. And yesterday morning, he headed out of town to visit D2 in PA. I can’t even tell you how many times it crossed my mind yesterday (and will again today) how grateful I am that that sump pump died last week, and not yesterday.</p>
<p>Where we are, we will be fine (oh, I’ve had to pump water out of the pool once already, and am going out to do it again in a few minutes), but many people have some major flooding, as well as some roads. But again, nothing like Texas/Louisiana.</p>