Beldar on Rita
A couple of days ago, I e-mailed William Dyer (aka Beldar) to ask if he was leaving Houston, and he replied that he probably wouldn’t. I’ve been a little worried about him since then, and I was happy to see this post discussing the situation and explaining why he’s staying:
There’s essentially nothing on the local media to remind folks that, for example, Houston isn’t dependent on vulnerable levies, below sea level, and in between a huge lake and the Mississippi. The man-on-the-street interviews with those planning to stay are always spun to make them look crazy.
How the actual storm will turn out remains to be seen. And Nature may prove me wrong. Maybe by this time next week, everyone will be agreed that there ought to have been a complete, total evacuation covering all of Houston/Harris County.
But so far, IMHO, it’s mostly been a perfect [media] storm. Sheesh, does everybody on the TV news want to be the next Dan Rather?
(FWIW, Weiss and I are hunkered down, at home with my emergency supplies and a full tank of gas. I’ve seen three major hurricanes since I moved to Houston, plus a buncha lesser but still impressive tropical storms, and I *DO* respect Mother Nature. But I’d rather be emailing you from my living room right now than out-of-gas on a gridlocked interstate, and I think I have a rational basis for concluding that I’m also safer here. My ex, who lives nearby and has our four kids with her, independently came to the same conclusion, and I certainly won’t leave town while they’re still here. So wish us all luck.)
Good luck, Beldar.
I think he’ll be fine, by the way. He says in an update that he is well outside the mandatory evacuation zones.
Yesterday at 4:00 a.m. I went to the pharmacy, here in Katy, Texas, for some back up supplies.
Paul Albers (7494b1) — 9/23/2005 @ 3:35 amI had to cross underneath Highway 99 just South of I-10.
There were red lights from stopped automobiles as far South as one could see.
I had already decided to stay, but this reinforced my resolve.
Texas has a different slant on firearms and the individuals right to use DEADLY force to protect not only one’s own property, but also your neighbors. It is lawful even for “mischief at night.”
Many Texans I am sure will protect themselves not only from Rita, but also from those that would do them harm as was done in New Qrleans.
I made the same decision as Beldar and I live in League City, much closer to the coast.
The media have over-hyped this in the extreme here. The result is that tens of thousands of people that don’t *need* to evacuate are on the roads preventing people that are under mandatory evacuation orders (like me) from leaving. I have no doubt that my wife and I are far safer in our newly constructed brick home in a hurricane than stalled on a gridlocked freeway, out of gas in our Jeep Cherokee.
I think folks down here have done an admirable job for the most part. The evacuation plan needs some work though, and elected officials need to have the courage to tell people that don’t need to evacuate to stay put so folks that are most at risk can get out.
Dwilkers (a1687a) — 9/23/2005 @ 8:55 amFolks stay in their homes to protect their property as best they can. It is a deep and compelling urge, and all the over hyped media hysteria can’t change that. Unless it’s a huge killer storm, cat4 or 5, lots of folks will stay and fight.
It started early for me. I always knew when a big storm was headed our way, my father would clean the bathtub and fill it with fresh water. My mother would buy candles and fresh batteries. We would tape the windows and bring the propane stove into the kitchen. We would also feast on any frozen food expecting to be without power for a few days.
Heck, I was born during the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944. The only doctor on Ocracoke told my mother to leave the island, it was no place for a woman about to give birth, but my father stayed to protect our home. The water got so high he had to chop holes in the floors to let water in and keep the house from floating away. That’s my family story, and we still do it the same way.
When Floyd took aim at Tidewater Virginia I stayed in our family home and did the same things my father had done. Two weeks ago with Hurricane Juanita off the coast, my sister took off work, drove to her vacation home on Topsail Island, and fought to protect it. There was some water damage, but she knew what to do, and she didn’t flinch, not for a second, there was no talk of leaving her house to the storm’s fury. She did exactly what we have always done. I couldn’t be more proud of her.
Protecting our homes runs deep in our family, we have long experience doing it, we know how to do it, and we’ll keep right on doing it, thank you very much.
Black Jack (ee9fe2) — 9/23/2005 @ 9:43 amRight now I’m in a crappy hotel in Dallas. I’d move to a nicer hotel, but just about every hotel in the state is filled to capacity. Anyone trying to get out of Houston now had better have something lined up, or be prepared to sleep in their cars when Hurricane Rita catches up with them in her new form as Crappy Weather Rita.
Xrlq (0d5489) — 9/23/2005 @ 11:45 am