re: escape from planet houston

[<eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Real quick before I go. Rita was upgraded to a Cat 5 hurricane a few minutes 
ago. Tuesday night I went shopping for the usual hurricane stuff: can 
opener, bottled water, candles, batteries, flashlights, can goods, dry stuff 
like cereals, pop tarts, and other crap I'm not supposed to have now that I 
got got diagnosed being Diabetic a few months ago. Still, Tuesday was not 
bad shopping, hurricane still around the Keys in FL. However. Last night I 
went to Wal Mart, Home Depot, Dollar Store and Sams and what a free for all. 
A number of WHOLE ROWS were shut down in Sams as people were buying 
Gatorades, bottled water and sodas. Some rows had palates shoved in the 
middle of them full of canned tuna and other slow to perish stuff.

The rows were long, and the people were many, and most carts chock full, 
even those flat carts bulging. That was at Sams. At Home Depot as soon as a 
truck pulled up with plywood people desended on it like it was a new Star 
Wars movie. The 18 wheeler sold out in MINUTES. More to come they said if 
people were going to wait, as Home Depot was extending their hours into the 
early AM to try to load shelves back up. Many shelves had been stripped 
clean like locusts invasion. That was at all four stores.

Hard to find, if not already out (and most stores were out of same stuff) 
was bollted water, masking tape, D and C batteries, Cymalumes, and it was at 
a point at the Dollar Store and Wally World where poeple were buying crap 
one normally would not like canned beets. I'll drink a pint of New Orleans 
water before I'll eat canned beets. But the panic buying was scary.

I've been thru many hurricanes thru the years in Texas, worst one was Celia 
on Aug 3rd, 1970 down in Corpus Christi, we lost both houses. I don't know 
what 'category' it was but wind gust broke the gauge at the airport at 161 
miles per hour. All out Ramblers had glass blown out from rocks off the Coca 
Cola roof next door which were like bullets. These came off the roof at such 
speed we found them EMBEDDED in the side of one of our houses. Several of 
the cars looked like Tu Pacs car with holes in it. No 'thru' the metal but 
damned close. We also had a 500 lb fan come off the Coca Cola plant and hit 
our roof and knocked a gaping 10 foot hole in the roof which got bigger with 
each gust.

Back to Houston, there is MANDATORY EVACUATIONS for Galveston and other 
areas southeast of me right now. The traffic is absolutlely unbelievable; 
basically a solid like from Galveston to the Woodlands on I-45, about 80 
miles. And about the same heading west on I-10 and NW on 290. Hurricane Rita 
is expected to shove a 15-25 foot storm surge into Galveston bay. If you 
have ever been to Houston you know that completely covers Galveston, but 
also takes out Kemah, League City, Tiki Island, Santa Fe, and like Alicia 22 
years ago, could very well wash out areas up to NASA!
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston/photos/45_galveston/45_galveston.shtml

The forecast track of Rita is "supposed" to hit near Matagorda. I'm not sure 
some of you have ever heard of Indianola, Texas, but here it is:
http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasGhostTowns/IndianolaTexas/IndianolaTx.htm

And almost 105 years ago the US's worst disaster with more than 6000 lives 
lost from a hurricane 65 miles southeast of where I'm writing at the moment, 
about 38-44 feet "above" sea level here however:
http://www.1900storm.com/

Yup, even a category 1 hurrcane sucks. And sometimes even if they are no 
"wind" events like Allison was in 2001, which is the costilest tropical 
storm in US history with over $5.5 billion dollars in damage:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/projects/allison01.htm

Anyhows, gotta go, still a LOT of stuff to do before Rita hits the coast 
somewhere. Windfield is about 100 miles to either side of eye, that is 
hurricane force+ winds either side of eye, but wind around the eye area is 
over 150mph, there ain't nothing built I can think of to withstand that. 
Sort of like being inside a F4 tornado for 6-15 hours, depending on how 
fast....or slow.....the hurricane is moving. Katrina is still fresh in 
everyone's minds and should be about the destruction these big storms can 
cause. So you prepare for the worst and pray for the best.
This is a live shot of Houston radar some of you might look at from time to 
time, especially Friday night/Saturday morning, which is when bitch Rita 
supposed to visit:
http://www.click2houston.com/wxmap/971287/detail.html

This is the Weather Channels website, shows projected path, but more 
importantly has up to the minute imagery in case local radars get knocked 
out:
http://www.weather.com/

And funny, there were over 110,000 evacuess from New Orlenas in Houston 
recently. You can't use the Astrodome as a shelter as roof is plastic and 
glass tiles. Most if not all of these people shipped elsewhere, ironic that 
they came here with nothing because of a hurricane, and now leaving with 
nothing because of a hurricane.

Ya'll take care, if you ordered something from me recently, or bid on one of 
my ebay auctions which will be ending Friday in a last minute shameless 
plug: :~O))>
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZeddiestakesQQhtZ-1
be patient, as several local forecasters said depending on where this 
monster hits, Houston, and areas of Houston, could be without electricity 
for 1-3 weeks. We got a lot of trees here you know. Can beets my ass! I 
throw my can of beets at Rita!
Eddie Stakes'
Planet Houston AMX
713.464.8825
eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.planethoustonamx.com

email on suspend 9/21/05