The day of the storm

Music: None: talking heads on NBC
Mood: Anxious

Last night, those of us remaining in this building hooked up in the gazebo with our lawn chairs and visited with one another. One family is an evacuated family from New Orleans. I made a list of everyone here and wrote down phone numbers (like that's going to do a lot of good) and apartment numbers. We'll probably hang out again this afternoon.

I'm very concerned about looters. I honestly believe that once this is done, we'll have people wandering outside our apartments. I'm on the ground floor. If one of my windows blows open, I'll be very vulnerable. I've asked a neighbor for one of his baseball bats. That's the only thing I can think of doing. One neighbor offered me a gun but I'm not comfortable with it. I think that with the electricity being out, the gate into our property will not be working either. So I asked Jim to keep his blinds open after the storm so he could see what was going on.

The sun is shining, but there is a brief haze. The sky is gray not blue. It's hot and still.

I've taken all of my photos and albums and put them up as high as I can. My PC is disconnected and put up. I've put money, keys, credit cards, passport, social security cards and lottery ticket (yes, I actually stopped what I was doing and bought a lottery ticket) in a ziplock bag. I think there is still more to do. I'm starting to feel really stressed and overwhelmed. Friends from far away are still calling trying to get me to leave this place. I really do think it will be ok.

When T. Storm Alison hit in 2001 she flooded Houston really really bad. Everyone is using that storm as a barometer for determining whether or not we might flood. That's a tough one to use because during that storm, it rained hard for 8 hours without stopping. THis storm should blow through; however, we didn't have storm surges during Alison. The bayous aren't going to drain like they should. We didn't flood during Alison, and people who have lived here 30 years have never seen it flood here. But here we are facing Rita and I'm just not so sure.

I'm about to take a shower and clean out the tub so that I can fill it with water. I'll continue posting as long as I have power and an internet connection.