Wednesday, January 11, 2006
The Journey of the Three Legged Dog - Running from Rita
I had been watching the projected path of Rita on the Golden Triangle Weather Page the week of 9/18. I was convinced that the landfall would be far enough away so the the effects in Beaumont would be small. I was not going to leave. The night of 9/21 I got two phone calls, one from son-in-law Scott (of Scooter & Ferret fame) and the other from a cousin in godly, TX. The message from both was the same - leave. I went to be d a little less certain that the hurricane would hit more that 100 miles away. On the morning of the 22nd, I got up and turned on the local TV station -KFDM - and sure enough, there was the County Judge ordering a mandatory evacuation. The hurricane was headed right for us. My wife continued to get ready to go to work. After a bit of arguing back and forth I conceded it was OK to go by her work (I knew no one would be there) so long as she continued on to get her mother who lived in Port Arthur. I had already decided that I would not go to work. No need. Instead, I got the car ready. The car was a 1995 Nissan Sentra GX - no AC - and only one of 4 hubcaps left - It was the 3 legged dog. The tank was already full of gas - 10 gal - and at 32 mpg I felt confident we could get far away, almost to Godly.
Here is what I put in the trunk - photos, insurance papers, SS cards, car registrations, computer hard drives, Star Wars & Lord of the Rings DVD's, a bit of food, water, ice, and some clothes. I made an attempt to get ice at the quick stop, but all the ice was gone. I got back just as Linda drove up with her mother. In less time that it takes to tell, we were ready to go AM. I headed north on Major Drive with the intention of getting on to US 69 at Tram Road. -At about 9:30 AM on 9/22 we made our getaway. More to come......
I had been watching the projected path of Rita on the Golden Triangle Weather Page the week of 9/18. I was convinced that the landfall would be far enough away so the the effects in Beaumont would be small. I was not going to leave. The night of 9/21 I got two phone calls, one from son-in-law Scott (of Scooter & Ferret fame) and the other from a cousin in godly, TX. The message from both was the same - leave. I went to be d a little less certain that the hurricane would hit more that 100 miles away. On the morning of the 22nd, I got up and turned on the local TV station -KFDM - and sure enough, there was the County Judge ordering a mandatory evacuation. The hurricane was headed right for us. My wife continued to get ready to go to work. After a bit of arguing back and forth I conceded it was OK to go by her work (I knew no one would be there) so long as she continued on to get her mother who lived in Port Arthur. I had already decided that I would not go to work. No need. Instead, I got the car ready. The car was a 1995 Nissan Sentra GX - no AC - and only one of 4 hubcaps left - It was the 3 legged dog. The tank was already full of gas - 10 gal - and at 32 mpg I felt confident we could get far away, almost to Godly.
Here is what I put in the trunk - photos, insurance papers, SS cards, car registrations, computer hard drives, Star Wars & Lord of the Rings DVD's, a bit of food, water, ice, and some clothes. I made an attempt to get ice at the quick stop, but all the ice was gone. I got back just as Linda drove up with her mother. In less time that it takes to tell, we were ready to go AM. I headed north on Major Drive with the intention of getting on to US 69 at Tram Road. -At about 9:30 AM on 9/22 we made our getaway. More to come......
