hurricane ike is bearing down on the texas coast this evening. am i in houston hunkered down to ride it out? whatta you think i am, stoopid? i’m sitting in my parents house in austin about 150 miles west. hopefully this is far enough away because this sucker is big.
unlike some others travelers, we are lucky…and we have options. so let see, stay in houston, have no power, no food, no restaurants, nothing open, or head to austin, crash at parents house for free, watch hurricane coverage on the tube, and have dinner at some funky little place on soco (south congress). decisions, decisions.
we were still trying to decide on wednesday what to do, when word starting going around at work that we were probably going to be closed on friday. several of us telecommute every thursday so of course we’re thinking, “sweet! four day weekend!” so guess what my boss suggests? “instead of working from home tomorrow, you can work from home on friday instead.”
really? yeah, nice try.
thursday afternoon as i was “working” from home, they emailed the office closure notice. we were in the car within 5 minutes with only the barest of necessities:
- a couple of changes of clothes
- a 1.75 liter bottle of knob creek (i know i said i was giving up margaritas but i didn’t say anything about bourbon)
- a 12-pack of coke zero
- some turkey bacon
- a bottle of water (hey we might need it)
as ike churns it’s way towards texas, galveston is already under water. apparently some residents have still decided that it’s not serious enough to take some preventative actions. here’s what the beach typically looks like.
here’s what it looks like now. the seawall has already been breached.
if this doesn’t make you say, “you know, i think i better be getting the f*ck out of here as quickly as i possibly can,” then i don’t know what does.
oh yeah, and you would think if you were surrounded by water, fire would be the least of your worries, but apparently that’s not the case.
still, some are refusing to go. i’m confident theyr’e taking adequate precautions.
best of luck my redneck brothers, best of luck.
Leigh Online 
Welcome to Austin!
Check out my post about Ike. I was worried about my sister (as she lives in Houston too), so we finally get in touch with my niece (her daughter) to see how my sis is doing.
Turns out she’s in Bhutan. I had to “Google” it. It’s near the Dalai Lama. In Asia. Talk about extreme evacuation.
Actually, I think she’s doing some medical missionary work there and neglected to tell me. We really should talk more.
Enjoy Austin while you’re here. I hope things aren’ too nasty in the big H when you have to return. Good luck.
That car tied to a tree is priceless 🙂 glad you guys are all safe and the liquor supply is fully stocked.
Hi! I’ve been lurking for a while but first time commenting! My Mom is in Houston, inside the loop, in a freakin high rise. Why they didn’t bolt, I don’t know. I’m waiting to hear from her this morning. I’m hoping they have windows and electric. They also have a beach house in Galveston and the water was almost to the top of the pilings at about 5:00 yesterday. They had a web cam going until electric went out. Major bummer. Hopefully the hooples that decided to ride it out are still riding high.
Hi Leigh. Glad you headed west. I’m listening to all kinds of stories about rescues Before Ike even hit! Dumbasses! Best of luck to all of those idiots. Geez…
Leigh: Glad to hear you’re out of the way of the storm, and doing all right (with your bourbon). Agree with Erin that car tied to the tree is priceless.
Love that car on a rope shot. Cuz a beauty like that you wouldn’t want to lose in a storm. I know, how about you GET IN and DRIVE AWAY? Hope Austin stays in good shape. There is awesome food and drink there, as I recall….mournfully….from the Pacific NW….sigh.
Good to hear you made the right decision… hope all is well with you and yours.
Stay safe and enjoy the knob!! Knob Creek that is 😉
Stay safe and stay dry! Don’t let Ike bitch slap you, Leigh.
Hope all is well. Glad to hear you remembered the booze (and the bacon)!
Holy jesus the picture of the car tied to the tree is priceless.
hahaha. “Redneck Brothers” I like that.
OK, the hose tied to the car is freaking awesome. I’m moving to Texas.