Houston Tales of Hurricane Rita - 4

Holley's tale: Was moving last week still.

Tried to get out of town (Houston) on Thursday morning for Rita. Got on 59 N at around 8 am with a cat and a full tank of gas. Expected to get to my aunt's house in Colmesniel in about 3 hours. Ha! At 4:30 pm had only gotten to the sign that says 'Intercontinental Airport 2 1/2 miles' and was down to 1/4 tank gas. The radio said there was no gas to be had until you get to Livingston and that was running out fast. Did not want to be stuck in my car all night. My cat was panting and refusing to drink. I wasn't feeling well either. You can't run your AC in the car going 1 mph in 99 degree heat with cars all around you unless you want to overheat so it was HOT in the car. The bottles of water were so hot I could have brewed tea int hem. The only thing that saved me was the ice chests full of ice in the back seat. Boy am I glad I didn't put those in the trunk! Anyway, at that point, turned around and went home to ride it out in my townhouse.

Had no plywood to put on french doors. Slept in the bathtub Friday night. Woke around 5 am and the wind and rain was still out there though it was surprisingly mild. Woke again at 8 am when my son called and it was still blowing but no rain. No damage in my complex. No flooding.

Then I sat and watched the weather channel and worried over my family who had to evacuate Beaumont. And the other family just outside of Kilgore before you get to Jasper. And the aunt in Colmesniel not too far from there. Ironic. By turning around, I avoided being in the worst of the hurricane. If I'd made it, I'd have had the eye pass right over me early Saturday. They all called in eventually and everything was ok. A roof was ripped off of a barn but other than that, they came through with little damage.

And because of the gas sitch, didn't make it to Austin for the Neil
Gaiman signing. Dang!