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.