Bubbies

The official 'hurricane hideout.'

This is one of the two most inner rooms in our house. Its a storage closet that has no windows. We removed most of the contents and placed a quilt on the floor just in case the kids needed a safe place to stay/sleep. They brought down a TV and watched a movie complete with a fan and some popcorn. editors note- the bottle held by Jacob contains NO alcohol.

Prelude

Friday, 9/23/05 11:28AM

Hurricane Rita's projected path is now predicted to make a direct hit in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. I'm not sure about the mileage, but its about a 90 minute drive from where we live. Hurricane force winds are still predicted for my area with gusts up to 100MPH, but certainly not as bad as it could be. I'm pretty confident that we've made all the preparations that we could and that the house will hold up pretty well.

The first events of any signifigant rain or wind should begin here sometime around 3PM CDT, even sooner along the coast, with the eyewall making landfall around 6AM CDT Saturday.

I drove around a bit last night and got a feel for what was going on around town. Almost every store is closed. Gas stations are all sold out. Some people, rather than wait in the stop and go traffic, decided to pull off and call it a night to conserve fuel. Some are already out of gas. Help is on the way though by way of National Guard and many good samaratains.

The state and Local government have been doing a masterful job in communicating with everyone especially Houston Mayor Bill White. There is no sense of panic anywhere and people are already reaching out to other people with water, gasoline, shelter, medicine, and baby formula. Its like the complete opposite of what you saw in New Orleans.

The winds have picked up noticeably and are steadily increasing in their intensity. It does appear that we're going to dodge a direct hit, but we still expect hurricane force winds.

That's it for now. I'll update again if we still have electricity.

Update

Thursday, 9/22/05 12:52PM

Some 12 hours after my last post, I'll clue you in on the goings on here in Space City.

I barely slept last night. The storm actually strengthened last night and the computer prediction models were sending the worst part of the storm right for my back yard. Apparently the models have changed a bit, even since this morning. The storm has begun a bit of a turn to the north ahead of where they said it would. This bodes well for my immediate area, and not as well, obviously, for others. What right at this moment for me is somewhat of a relief is someone else's worst nightmare.

I rented a car this morning, one that I'm sure was one of the last available in town. The airport was completely out, and I got the last one at this agency. Our final decision is to stay put, and most of my neighbors have made the same decision. I'm still glad I got the car even though we may not even need it. It was a load off my mind. I just wonder how many people in the new predicted path decided last night to stay and now find themselves in the path of the storm. Who knows. The storm's path is still far from a certainty.

The freeways and traffic here are unreal. Its probably the major reason why we're not leaving. People are moving 25 miles or less in 12 hours. The main artery, I-45, had the southbound lanes reversed and all lanes are running north. My dad made a good point in saying, "where do you want to be stuck in the middle of a hurricane; at home or in a car on the freeway?"

Gasoline has become a real issue here. I'm thankful that I filled up when I did.

My wife said that the airport checkpoints are out of control, as more than half of the employees stayed home to prepare for the storm.

I boarded up 3 of the most difficult windows on the rear of my house. I'll get the rest later. Ironically, the windows I boarded up may be less at risk than the windows on the front of my house seeing as how the storm's predicted path has been ammended.

As I type this, the latest update has downgraded Rita to a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150MPH, down from 175MPH last night. Keep in mind though, this is STILL the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. Whichever area gets a direct hit will be devastated.

More to come later.

Hurricane Hideout

Thursday, 9/22/05 12:19AM

I'm having trouble sleeping and this seems to alleviate my stress a bit.

As mentioned previously, my wife's car has a hole in the radiator. I bought a new one at Autozone and hopefully I'll get a chance to install it tomorrow. The cell service here is intermittent, due to the massive call volume. According to the weather reports, the storm is about 48 hours away from landfall. I bought 4 sheets of particle board from a guy in a parking lot with a huge flatbed trailer. It cost me $72. I should have enough to cover almost all the windows in my house.

We're well stocked in the provisions department. My real worry is the wind. All the predictions locally on the news show sustained winds of up to 120MPH for my area, and I'm 70 miles inland. We've got four five gallon jugs of water, and two empty jugs.

Frankly, I'm not too sure how we'd leave if we could. The major thoroughfares are all inundated with countless vehicles from points south of Space City. A typical commute of one hour now takes six, even at this early hour.

I was supposed to attend the NASCAR race this Sunday in Dover, DE. I was supposed to have an impromptu Arrosox reunion this weekend. These things that I'd been looking forward to for months seem so distant now. Almost like I had never even planned them in the first place. My friend Jeff is going to the NASCAR race with my brother, seeing as how my father and I are staying put. Jeff is a veteran of several hurricanes having lived in Florida. He informs me that once the lights go out, so go the cell towers. I recall news reports from Katrina ravaged New Orleans that said text messages were getting through. Time will tell, I suppose.

I spoke with buKit this evening. His offer of a place to stay to ride out the storm and it's aftermath really meant a lot to me. He's promised to update the blog in the event of my extended absence by relaying any communication here. His first post was earlier today when we were having some difficulty here with the internet and cell service. More of that is sure to follow in the coming days.

As I type this, I have the local news on in the background. They've gone into 24-hour Hurricane coverage. Most of it is just speculation and not really any new info. I don't know why I beat myself up watching it. Nothing they say right at this moment is going to change anything. We're as prepared as we're ever going to be, which is better than most people can say. At least better than the ones that are staying. Nothing they say is going to alleviate the brutal traffic north. Maybe the traffic will let up, but I doubt it. And if it did, I'm not too sure if we'd leave anyway.

I'm sure it sounds moronic to anyone on the outside. I've said it myself when watching newscasts about other people in other storms. "Why in the hell don't they leave? What were they thinking by staying behind?" Until you put yourself in that position and you're faced with those decisions, you really can't say how you'll react.

I dunno.

As for now, the plan is to stay. We plan on re-evaluating the situation in the morning. Until then, I guess I'm off to bed to enjoy the last 48 hours of air conditioning that I'll have for a while.

Rita Report 01

From the kjunglewires:

09.21, 7.21 pm EST

Update...Ron's radiator just sprung a leak so we're down to one car, without a/c. I guess the phone lines are jammed because I can't even call my voicemail.

The internet is down now as well. All flights out of here are full. The freeways are obscenely jammed.

Posted by the buKit via text message from kjungleboy.

Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

Wednesday, 9/21/05

Day One,

Hurricane Rita is about 2 and a half days out. Its probable target is yet to be determined.

I've never been through a hurricane before, so this is uncharted ground. buKit has downed several of the famous "hurricane" cocktails, and assures me that I haven't a thing to worry about.

We live in Spring, about 20 miles north of downtown Space City and 70 miles from the coast. I saw things today that I've only seen on the news. Lines for everything. Shelves that are bare. Boarded up houses, IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. I'd never actually seen a line for gasoline until today, and I was in it. I waited in 2 lines at the hardware store. one for batteries, one for propane. Total wait time, 90 minutes. I'm not sure if we'll have electricity after the storm hits, but my grill has a side burner.

Evacuations orders are out for just about everyone south of the city today. From the people I've talked to and taking into account my own feelings, I'd say the mood here is more anxious than anything. Perhaps the panic is yet to come.

Currently, I'm trying to get the kids out of town, but it appears that the flights are all full. I'm still going to play the stand-by waiting game at the airport later this evening with them.

I'll try to update this as often as I can. buKit will be lending a hand in a yet to be determined manner, either here or on buKitzone.

"Everybody say, Hey....we want some...."

Nothing really of substance to add here. I just really hate cats. They're inattentive. They go #2 in the house. They don't bathe. And they tear up your furniture.

"George Bush doesn't care about black people." Vol 1

In keeping with my not-so-frequent New Orleans updates and how George Bush is to blame for the suffering of everyone therein, I offer this about one of his more vocal critics...

"The levee system that had protected New Orleans for hundreds of years had failed. Our city was inundated, 80 percent of it, with deadly water. Thousands of lives were lost, many drowned, trapped in their homes. Others were lost trying to escape the fury." -Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA 9/7/05 on the floor of the House of Representatives

Military sources say that Rep. William Jefferson (2nd Congressional district, LA), an eight-term Democratic congressman, asked the National Guard that night to take him on a tour of the flooded portions of his congressional district. A five-ton military truck and a half dozen military police were dispatched.

Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard said that during the tour, Jefferson asked that the truck take him to his home on Marengo Street, in the affluent uptown neighborhood in his congressional district. According to Schneider, this was not part of Jefferson's initial request.

Jefferson defended the expedition, saying he set out to see how residents were coping at the Superdome and in his neighborhood. He also insisted that he did not ask the National Guard to transport him.

"I did not seek the use of military assets to help me get around my city," Jefferson said. "There was shooting going on. There was sniping going on. They thought I should be escorted by some military guards, both to the convention center, the Superdome and uptown."
The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour.

Wait, it gets better.

According to the source, Jefferson finally emerged with a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator, which the enlisted men loaded up into the truck.

The Louisiana National Guard states that the truck became stuck as it waited for Jefferson to retrieve his belongings.

Two weeks later, the vehicle's tire tracks were still visible on the lawn.

The soldiers signaled to helicopters in the air for aid. Military sources say a Coast Guard helicopter pilot saw the signal and flew to Jefferson's home. The chopper was already carrying four rescued New Orleans residents at the time. A rescue diver descended from the helicopter, but the congressman decided against going up in the helicopter, sources say. The pilot sent the diver down again, but Jefferson again declined to go up the helicopter.

After spending approximately 45 minutes with Jefferson, the helicopter went on to rescue three additional New Orleans residents before it ran low on fuel and was forced to end its mission.

"Forty-five minutes can be an eternity to somebody that is drowning, to somebody that is sitting in a roof, and it needs to be used its primary purpose during an emergency," said Jerry Hauer, a homeland security expert and ABC News consultant.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Brendan McPherson stated, "We did have an aircraft that responded to a signal of distress where the congressman was located. The congressman did decline rescue at the time so the helicopter picked up three other people.

"I can't comment on why the congressman decided not to go in the aircraft," McPherson said. "Did it take a little more time to send the rescue swimmer back a second time? Yes … You'd have to ask the congressman if it was a waste of time or not."

The Louisiana National Guard then sent a second five-ton truck to rescue the first truck, and Jefferson and his personal items were returned to the Superdome.

Schneider said he could not comment on whether the excursion was appropriate. "We're in no position to comment on an order given to a soldier. You're not going to get a statement from the Louisiana National Guard saying whether it was right or wrong. That was the mission we were assigned."

Comments from Kanye West still forthcoming.

Source - ABC News

Seanie's got a gun

Dateline : New Orleans

It seems our lil' sailor has dissed the boat for some serious firepower. Sean Penn was seen this week touting a shotgun while on his "rescue mission". Two looming questions come to mind. Since the Military now controls the city and the regular citizens aren't pernmitted to carry weapons, how did Penn get a gun? Lastly and most importantly, who in the hell does he intend to shoot?

An A for Effort

From the kjunglewires...

People are dying. Where's my photographer?

Efforts by Hollywood actor Sean Penn to aid New Orleans victims stranded by Hurricane Katrina foundered badly overnight, when the boat he was piloting to launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak. Penn had planned to rescue children waylaid by Katrina's flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.

The actor, known for his political activism, was seen wearing what appeared to be a white flak jacket and frantically bailing water out of the sinking vessel with a red plastic cup. When the boat's motor failed to start, those aboard were forced to use paddles to propel themselves down the flooded New Orleans street.

Asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor replied: "Whatever I can do to help."

With the boat loaded with members of Penn's entourage, including a personal photographer, one bystander taunted the actor: "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"

Idiocy

I'd like to preface this entry by asking anyone and everyone to contribute to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort. I did so after an email by my good friend and kjunglerants co-contributor buKit. He may not be in the best financial situation with what's gone on in his family's life lately, and yet he still was able to give.

The following is a list of places that you can contribute:
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/USNSAHome.htm
http://national.unitedway.org/

Its really difficult to find words to describe what some of these people have experienced in the last week. One of the things that really irritates me to no end is how people seize on an opportunity to better themselves as a result of others' suffering. Jesse Jackson had the nerve to question President Bush's response to the disaster and Bush's apparent nonappointment of Blacks to the effort stating, "How can blacks be locked out of the leadership, and trapped in the suffering?"

For some reason, Jackson failed to note that U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, head of the military task force overseeing operations in the three states, is Black. His task force is providing search and rescue, medical help and sending supplies to the three states in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Guess that doesn't prove Jesse's point though.

Are Blacks the only people affected by this tragedy? Do you honestly think that in this day and age that people would care more, donate more, help more if the victims were all white? People point out how many of the innocent victims are Black. Uh, News Flash. White people live in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast too. They've been victimized. The people rendering aid to those affected come from all walks of life and are of all colors. New Orleans happens to have a 67% Black population, so the law of averages would dictate that, unfortunately, most of the victims would be Black.

But honestly, does it really matter what color someone's skin is? The only ones I hear making this argument are the people on the left. Canadian Blogger Matthew Good stated that , "Were affluent whites stranded in New Orleans, the response would resemble lightning. Well moron, affluent whites ARE stranded in New Orleans. For example, some tourists (in Matthew Good's eyes no doubtedly white and affluent since they were on vacation, and some of them Canadian at that) at a hotel pooled together their money, to the tune of $25,000, only to have their prepaid buses commandeered by evil the Bush Government. (see here) FEMA diverted the buses to the Convention Center where (according to Jesse Jackson and Mr. Good) the poor and the Black were suffering at the hands of evil white people. Yet the evil, rich tourists were forced to sleep on a highway overpass.

When I see the footage of the goings on, I don't see a crying Black child, I see an innocent baby that has inhabited a cess pool for 4 days without a clean diaper. I don't see poor peoples' houses destroyed and the rich ones spared, I see a devastated city and a horrific natural event that took aim at every class, color, sex, and creed. I see doctors, pilots, divers, engineers, and nurses of all colors trying to help a beleaguered people while putting their own lives on hold.

For whatever moronic reason, hip-hop tool Kanye West took a swipe at President Bush this evening claiming, "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" and said America is set up "to help the poor, the Black people, the less well-off as slow as possible. I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a Black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food." West went on to say that he'd informed his business manager to see how much he could give. Just so we're straight here, the President has mobilized the military, earmarked an unprecidented $10.5 billion in initial aid, visited the devastation twice, and is a racist bigot that hates Blacks. Kanye West made a phone call to his bookkeeper.

Dear Kanye, You could take a page out of Macy Gray's book and volunteer your time to the Red Cross as she has here in Houston and try to help people put their lives back together.

Its funny, because the humanitarian aid was discontinued in favor of cracking down on the lawlessness by none other than New Orleans' mayor, C. Ray Nagin who happens to be Black. He rightly did so only after the thugs (his words not mine) needed to be dealt with. Rescue teams and vehicles delivering aid were being fired upon and hijacked. National guardsman and police were being shot at. Police were powerless against armed hoodlums. Looting was out of control. Women and even CHILDREN were being raped. Nearly one third (some estimates put it at half) of the N.O. police force simply deserted their posts.

I'd like to go on record as saying that mayor Nagin has done an admirable job in wake of this disaster. He is STILL in the city some five days after the Hurricane. He told everyone to leave before Hurricane Katrina hit. Even though the Superdome deteriorated into obscene living conditions, nearly everyone that chose to evacuate to that location survived thanks to mayor Nagin. The use of the Superdome was only intended for the duration of the storm. Its my understanding that mayor Nagin has stayed at the New Orleans convention center, and that the conditions there are even more deplorable than the Superdome. See for yourself here.

Why in the hell in this day and age and in the wake of this disaster are people trying to focus on how we may be different, instead of how we are all so exactly alike? Saying that racism is involved in this response makes about as much sense as saying that the Hurricane deliberately sought out the less fortunate. Its saying that the doctors and nurses aren't trying as hard to save lives, the helicopter pilots aren't flying as fast, the winches aren't going up and down as quickly, people aren't donating as much.... all because of the color of one's skin.

If you jerks are going to play the race card, do me a favor. At least wait until we save everyone that we can save and restore as much of the battered Gulf Coast as we can. Your nonsense isn't doing a damn bit of good. Why must you be so incessant on dividing people that are making such an effort to unite?

And a HUGE PS goes out to kjunglerants sole female correspondent -lilsistor- (aka KLF) for her recent comments on the buKitzone that I post here in their entirety:

"Hey all, As evil as cooporate America can be please keep in mind these folks who are steping up to the plate in the south. Coca-Cola, WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, Giant Foods, and Anheuser Busch.
Strangely missing from the list many who were champions in the Tsunami Relief efforts. Perhaps they are still in shock and we should give them a chance, or that could just be a lame excuse. STARBUCKS, Target, Pepsico, Macy's and Sears. Source for all info each company's web-site press release page."

Give me your thieves, your lawless, and your armed

In wake of the floods that have submerged the greater New Orleans area, many of those that chose not to vacate the 'Big Easy' prior to Hurricane Katrina are now headed to Space City. The news outlets don't tell you that we already have many residents of the greater New Orleans here. Many of the ones now slated to arrive later this week, however, are the very same people that now fill our television sets by way of mass looting and lawlessnes. Apparently, they're welcome here now. But who am I to comment on the looters. After all, if you're gonna be out in a flooded city street only to be evacuated to a city where you don't know anyone, you got to have your bling-bling.

Given the numerous reports of how stingy the US and more particularly George Bush was in wake of the Southeast Asian Tsunami, I still have yet to hear one foreign nation contribute anything to rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Hell, I thought the Canadians (the French ones trying to succede Quebec) or France would've at least sent a letter of condolence. They had some sort of a vested interest.

I guess we know who our friends are. We're expected to be the world's policeman, the world's carpenter, and the world's hospital.

Just blame George Bush. That's what everyone else does.