Ike update

Even though we got nary a drop of rain, we got winds, and a staggering amount of evacuees. Yes, a friend confirmed, bumper to bumper traffic as the second wave of evacuees come struggling in after having to find a place to sleep on the side of the road. It has been interesting to see the plan in action. I'm glad that we have some assistance for those who could not evacuate, and that the rescue team is on the spot looking for folks and bringing food and water.

FEMA whosits and the guv have the Texas coast locked down tighter than a drum, with not only our fine Texas National Guard folks, which I appreciate and have not a huge problem with, but with "Private Organizations" which spells Blackwater to me. I have a huge problem with that. Those folks should be leaders in alternative energy development and production, not mercenary soldiers.

The size of the locked down area is larger than New England, not counting the gulf waters. Keep in mind that as much as 2/3 of the state will be affected, in addition to portions of at least two other states and Mexico. Texas has a border to protect, and you can rest assured that they will not have let that coverage lapse. This means that a goodly percentage of the Texas Hurricane Task Force will necessarily be non-U.S. military personnel. i.e., Blackwater and the like.

The evacuees will stay in place until the guv says they can go home. It could take several days, if not weeks, so yes, even though we stayed dry, windy, parched, Ike will directly affect our lives for some time to come. I welcome those who did the safe thing and evacuated their family, I think we all will.

Interesting times.

Ike is a monster

O M G. Here is a video from the space station, via KXAN.com local NBC affiliate in Austin. Ike is gigantic.

Galveston just lost emergency power and there are electrical fires throughout the city.

The cold front from the north will lessen the effect on Austin.

I was just reading comments on one of the sites, and some Austinites were saying that folks are panicking and buying the stores out of water and food. Long lines at the gas pump. If this is true, then I'm glad I got gas yesterday, that I have stuff to eat and drink, and cat food. (See earlier post).

The big problem will be losing power. I can't deal with that. It will still be in the 80's, and stiflingly humid. No AC will be a definite threat. The utility company has posted their fleet around town to better deal with outages.

Galveston Island will be the straw

that cracks the back of American oil, courtesy Mother Nature. Unfortunately the little people will pay for it. Where are we going to put all of our coastal inhabitants, in the short term, never mind whether global warming exists or not. Doesn't matter. Our primary focus should be to re-evaluate the misery most of the population is in, not to mention squandering trillions of precious things, and I'm not even counting the money. Following an ego-ethnocentric bunch of yahoos who thought they didn't have to act like human beings to get what they wanted, we have wasted so much of America's valuable resource, we the people.

We are in perilous waters, captained by maniacs. Incursions into the territory of former allies, more innocent human collateral damage. And I'm watching a 900 mile wide whirligig of cloud get ready to wipe one of my favorite places right off the map. There are thousands of folks who defied the evacuation order and stayed behind. They are now calling for help. The rescue units can no longer get to them. This will be worse than Katrina, and it will claim many lives, much more precious than possessions or oil.

Ike' 50 mile wide eye is due to hit Galveston around one a.m. We will get tropical storm conditions to max out around six a.m. I will definitely be facing southeast sending good thoughts to those in danger. Settling into twenty-four hour hurricane watch.

Linus came in long enough to eat last night, found me and gave a great yowl. Then he disappeared, until I opened the door to let him out. I think he said, "Ike's coming, get your shit together...and my food, while you're at it."