Monday, June 19, 2006

Rain, rain go away

It rained as much as 10 inches in about two hours this morning here in Houston. Highways were partly closed because they were impassable. People were parked in traffic for at least 3 hours. One of the airports closed because workers couldn't get to it. The dangers aren't limited to people in their cars, either. Manhole covers float off and some people walking in the water fall through. Other people get pulled into drainage ditches. The water is filthy and has a gasoline sheen. Beware of the snakes in the water. Beware of the ALLIGATORS in the water.

And it's supposed to rain again tomorrow.

Luckily, the area I live in was mostly unaffected. And though it was not due to a tropical storm, the flooding has been compared to Tropical Storm Allison of 2001 (before my time here). In that storm, the Medical Center was heavily flooded and all of the animals in Baylor College of Medicine's basement vivarium were lost. Years of scientific research were lost. I heard stories of cadavers floating around basement morgues. Ew.

Of course, we all remember last year's Gulf Coast disaster. And after the hurricane season of Katrina and Rita ended, my friends and I vowed to be prepared next summer. No going to every grocery store in a 20 minute radius to find that all of the bottled water is gone. No going back to the grocery store at 8am sharp when the delivery trucks show up and using your grocery cart as a sheild against some little old lady who keeps yelling that she was there first. No panicking over the fact that the only flashlights left at Target were the tiny kinds you put on your key chain. No scrounging around for batteries.

Hurrican season starts June 1st. Officials say you should have all of your supplies by that day. Did I? No. It's June 19th. Am I ready? Of course not.

Only now, when faced once again with typical, terrible Houston summer weather do I realize that I really need to get off my ass and stock up on hurricane supplies.

Luckily, because of last year's Rita panic I have most things. Most of my important papers are still in plastic bins. I have tools and first aid kits. I have a huge plastic trunk to hold all of my hurricane supplies. Really, I just need the consumables like food, water, and batteries.

Pray that I leave Houston for good before I have to "hunker down".

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