... here we go again! Thank goodness people are taking this seriously, and helping those in need to get away from the danger zones.

I understand that Sherry and Ken have left Lake Charles... and that Shirley is staying in Houston... and I'm not sure whether Chuck and Connie are staying in Houston or not.

Sending them (and all others in the path of the storm) many many blundervibes of safety!

Many, many prayers are headed that way to all those folks we know and love...and those we don't know, too. Scary times!

There are too many Blunderites caught in this one. Sending prayers, thoughts and blundervibes fulltime now.

Chuck and Connie are in Mesquite and doing fine. We talked to them tonight. All their family is out of harms way. They thank everyone for the vibes and well wishes.

So glad they had made it out okay. When I heard it was hitting near Lake Charles I thought about Sherry & Ken & hoped they were okay & able to get outta there. I also wondered if there were any other blunderites out there & hoped they were okay...

Just got this a little while ago from Shirley:

Hey Jude, sorry about not sending you the promised e. I spent all of
yesterday watching the tv, putting my treasures in plastic bags, and praying
and hopint this Rita won't be the monster she looks to be. I am scared for
myself, Ken & Sherry, and all of us in the danger zone, but my main concern
was for all those folks sitting for hours and days in 100+ heat in their
cars, probably thousands of folks ... This morning I woke to the most
horrible, sad news I could imagine, that a bus full of nursing home patients
from Houston, who'd been on their hot bus for hours and hours, died when
their bus caught fire. Somebody dropped the ball on getting all those people
help. The governor had promised that there would be stashed of gas along the
evacuation routes, but it wasn't there. Another sad thing on top of that, an
elderly couple on the western evucation route spent the night by the side of
the road with others who were exhausted and out of gas. They put their
sleeping bags in a stall of a carwash, and when the lady got up this morning
she slipped, it her head and died. Her faimly couldn't follow the ambulance
because they had no gas. We were promised Army convoys with gasoline trucks,
but they didn't show last night. The mayor of Houston and the people who
could help have done a masterful job, and even the new director of FEMA is
doing all he can, but it's not enough. Some people in the traffic jams, we
don't know how many yet, died from heat strokes. We are praying that all
those still in their cars will be in shelters before the storm hits, but time
is running out.

At present, my area of Houston, and most of Harris County, is still on
the "weak" side of the storm, but that could change, even now that we're
within less than 24 hours of landstrike. But as one official said, "if you
get hit by a frighttrain, you're still gonna get hurt." Or something like
that.

By the time we realized how dangerous the storm and how likely it was to hit
Houston Wed. afternoon, it was already too late for me to leave. The coastal
areas had been told to get out starting on Monday, and they were already
filling up the evacuation routes, which are also Houston's major highways.
Even though most of Houston was not told to evacuate, many tried to,
remembering the horrors of Katrina - many of those survivors are still in
Houston, and they are having to go through more trauma now. All
the "voluntary" evacuees in Houston joined the mandatory evacuees, and that's
what caused the trajic traffic jams. Some officials - including the
governor - were saying, when peopled asked if they should try to get out if
they weren't told to, said "the farther you are away from the coast, the
safer you'll be, even if you're in your car."

My neighbors and I conferred, and decided we were a hell of a lot safer
staying here than taking the chance of being on the freeway, going a mile an
hour in the heat with no gas available anywhere in the county, when the storm
hit. We will "hunker down" and shelter in place when the heavy rain and
winds start, which should be late this afternoon. We will most likely lose
power tonight, so just keep watching the news and sending those prayers and
blundervibes.

Another sad thought - those people from the Bellaire (Houston) nursing home
might well have been perfectly safe if they'd stayed here, but those memories
of the New Orleans nursing homes, helpless people abandoned by their owners
was just too hard to contemplate, so the staff decided to leave.

I need to do some more storm things, so I'll stop for now. Please post this
on Arlonet. To all my blunder friends, the ones I know & the ones I haven't
met yet, thanks for your concern. I plan to be at the church in October,
come hell or high water - or, in this case, both.

love,
Shirley

Prayers just said for her. Hope she is safe...

howdy.... i sent a group e mail but in case i missed anyone...ken and i and the 4 legged crew have arrived safe but tired in georgia and are watching the news and praying like everyone else...

will keep you updated as i can...when i'm a bit more functional (yes, i'm even worse than usual at the moment!)

hugs and prayers and thanks to all....

The West household is sending huge prayers for all in harms way there in Tx.
I'm glad to hear about our friends who made it to safe harbor....
Love and hugs
Kitty

Vibes to all thoughs who want and need them.
Bev and Alan

Go glad Sherry & Kitty West are okay. I thought of them with the hurricanes up their area. Still prayers for all those in the hurricane areas. Stay safe & hope things go better for ya...

Hope all in Rita's path have fared well or, at least, suffered the most minimal of damage. Thursday, at sundown, I sat outside playing my didj for an hour and trying to send some vibes to lessen Rita's strength and the damage caused. Don't know if it helped, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>
Capt'n Zap

hello....wish i had actual 'news' for you guys but we are watching what you are.....it seems the 'worst' is past our area but the phone lines are out so there is no way to assess the situation at home. if our roof held we should be fine...we'd need to have 15 feet of water in town before it got to our door..so we may have lucked out.

if/when we hear anything new, i'll post again but just wanted to say thank you again for all the support...you guys...as always....are the best!

I post to a baseball message board where a lot of folks from Houston hang out, & they all vacated the area & that board's been dead, but it appears that everybody I know in the area is doing OK.

Besides, we all know that FEMA will do a better job of taking care of AWOL George's home state than they did down in New Orleans.

was concerned for Ken and Sherry glad they are safe