The news here in Houston is all confirming a direct hit end of the week. They've already called for an evacuation of Galveston and are broadcasting constantly about how to prepare yourself for the worst. They're saying if we take a direct hit we could be without power for up to two weeks. (Scare tactics I'm sure to get people listening, but after Katrina....). My work is preparing plans for people to to back up everything and take computers with them when we leave this weekend.

Pretty freaking wierd considering it's 88 degrees right now, not a cloud in the sky and I'm going to play softball tonight.

I hope this is only in order to protect the computers and files, not because they expect you to work...

eff that take six computers home with you

A preemptive looter. Good call.

I hope you get your looting pants from the cleaners in time.

There's nothing weird about that. It's just the calm before the storm. You shouldn't feel the effects till it's at least a day away.

Also , don't you go making Rita mad with those comments of " bring it on " . If it's a Category 1 or a weak Category 2 , yeah , you could talk shit. But , if that whore gets stronger and gets you with a direct hit........ she'll make you wish you never said that.

I was supposed to see Coldplay on Saturday night. Looks like that might not be in the cards if this Rita bitch comes over here. Hell, my apt may get flooded. I'll be packing my toys and going to my parents house more than likely.

I say leave immediately to beat traffic.

With Katrina so fresh in everyone's minds I think there will be a mass exodus if there's even a remote chance it'll hit.

That sucks man. I actually had two shows cancelled due to weather. The first was a Coldplay show in Atlanta that I actually took a plane from Lauderdale just to see them. A friend who lived in Athens picked me up from the airport and straight to the show. Only as we got there , we noticed a guy on a ladder putting up those dreaded letters..... C A N C E L L E D. Couldn't fucking believe it.

The other show was Ozzfest. I scored 5th row seats 6 months in advance dying to re-visit Black Sabbath & Judas Priest . The show in West Palm was the last stop on the tour. And on the day of the show , South Florida was hit by Hurricane Jeanne .

Here's a good pic of a very smart couple down in the Keys as the storm was approaching.

So seriously, since I'm relatively new to hurricanes and have never been through one (I'm used to tornadoes and hail storms, not this shit), how far inland is "safe"? Cause I'm a good ways in and live in the 'burbs, but just want to make sure.

Depends on how intense the storm is. If it's above a Cat 3 Hurricane you'll see some damage.

For Katrina I know a guy who lived as far north as Jackson, MS and they still had downed limbs/trees and lost power for a week.

It's nothing to fuck with.

Damn, Jackson is like 120 miles inland, too. I'm around 90. I need to move back to West Texas.

It really depends on where the storm goes once it hits land. I live in Mobile, AL and downtown took some storm surge, but out in WeMo where i live, the most we had was downed trees/power lines.

Steal from babies.

you'd be surprised what even a dinky tropical storm can do if it hits the right way and at the right time. when i was in florida and was spared the wrath of hurricane floyd (fucking huge storm!!) a little tropical storm snuck up behind it and hit the central florida coast hard and did a considerable amount of damage.

It's been upgraded to a Category 4.

Not good news.

I wasn't living in Houston at the time, but from what I've heard tropical storm Allison caused a lot of damage and tons of flooding. And it wasn't even a hurricane. It kind of did an Ophelia type of thing though and decided to just sit on top of Houston forever without moving.

I for one have done nothing to prepare.

hey scorcho, what part of town are you in? I'm in the Sugar Land area. I haven't done much for preparations really other than stock up on food and water. Sounds like a good probability we'll be without power for a few days. I'm not too concerned about the flooding part....yet. From what they're saying now it's a fast moving storm and the biggest to expect is the high winds, not so much the rain. Of course all of this can change by the time it hits us.

Edit: I know nakedprey is here as well...any other obners in h-town?

looting pants

heh heh

Rita's now a category 4. Ausitn City Limits should be a very interesting experience indeed...