Category Archives: Hurricane Katrina

We’re home. It was highway speed all the way, making for a much more pleasant journey. Thanks very much once again for all the kind words and good thoughts. I plan to return to more normal blogging in the morning. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The following came to me in email. I have not heard of anything similar to this, and I haven’t had a chance to do any news searching to see if there are other reports. I’m printing this to see if … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Our goal is to head back to Houston today, most likely leaving Dallas in the evening, a bit after the normal rush hour. Scanning the Road Home Blog, it seems like I-45 wasn’t too awful yesterday, but we ought to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Did you know that Dallas has a system of levees that help keep it dry, and that those levees could overflow and cause major flooding in the event of a big storm? Like, say, Hurricane Rita, had it not gone … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There will be many questions asked over the next few weeks in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. One that’s being asked now is whether the inbound highway lanes could have been opened in a more timely manner that they were … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Now that Rita has proven to be a non-menace to Houston, evacuees from the area are starting to return home despite pleas to stay put a little longer. Houston-bound traffic was at a standstill by noon on I-10 just outside … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Since we’ll be soon talking about rebuilding efforts again, I thought I’d post an update on the attempt by President Bush to allow federally-funded contractors to pay wages beneath the prevailing rate. The number of Democrats who have not signed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So far, all reports are that Houston has evaded major damage. I’ve spoken to my in-laws, my next-door neighbor, and my friend Andrea, who lives about a mile away from us. All are fine, all have power, and our neighbor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s a debate going on at SciGuy over whether or not the dangers of Hurricane Rita were overhyped (by the media and/or local politicians), and if that contributed to the extreme freeway gridlock yesterday. At least one local official is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And now, the full story… Yesterday, I learned of a new way to measure gasoline consumption. We left the house at 10:30 AM with a full tank. Six hours of mostly idling while the AC ran later, we were in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone for the kind words and offers of hospitality. I’m truly humbled by the outpouring of generosity so many of you have shown. Thank you all very, very much. I am cautiously … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We have arrived in Murphy. Our earlier estimate of 1 AM was optimistic by about three hours. Olivia’s awake, Harry’s a little freaked, and we’re all a bit frazzled, but we’re here and we’re safe. Thank you all very very … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Guest blogger Matt here – I just got off the phone with Tiffany, and all four Kuffners (including Harry) are on I-45 near Centerville (about 115 miles north of Houston), the traffic is clear, and they have enough gas to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We hope to be on the road within the next hour. Traffic on I-45 North in the area is moving at between 5 and 10 MPH right now, which is to say slower than Rita is. At least we’ve got … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having taken Jay’s excellent advice to photograph everything in the house, I first had to download the existing pix off the digicam. This one was from last weekend at the in-laws. Bedtime comes early at that age, you know? I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just finished moving all of our outside stuff into the garage. There really ought to be a law against 95 degree weather in the days preceding a hurricane. I’m a “non-essential personnel” person at work, so I’m officially off till … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In declaring Texas a disaster area as part of the preparation for Hurricane Rita, Rick Perry’s spokeswoman Kathy Walt said: “FEMA has already been part of this. They have offered whatever support we need,” Walt said. “Texas is not Louisiana. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

SciGuy: If today began with a glimmer of hope for Houston, it has ended rather poorly. The evening’s last update for Hurricane Rita shows a powerful category-4 hurricane, with 145 mph winds, coming ashore between Matagorda and Freeport. If anything, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Up to a million people might need to evacuate from the city of Houston, says Mayor White. For point of reference, that’s about half the population of Houston. “I’d like to ask all Houstonians to begin thinking about their own … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The voluntary evacuation of Galveston, which was announced yesterday, is in full swing. Galveston may no longer be the most likely target for Hurricane Rita, but the island remains well within the danger zone and the city has begun a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The forecast for where soon-to-be-Hurricane Rita will hit the Gulf Coast has – for now – shifted westward. Keep packing that suitcase and hold off on a sigh of relief, but the National Hurricane Center’s latest official forecast names the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is what I call not taking any chances. Activating its emergency management plan this afternoon, Galveston asked residents to voluntarily leave in preparation of Rita, which is a tropical storm now but is expected to strengthen into a hurricane … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Great. This is just what we need. Rita, which strengthened Sunday into a tropical storm, had sustained wind of 65 mph by late morning, up from 60 mph earlier in the day, and could be a Category 1 hurricane by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

McGonegel’s Mucky Duck will be having a benefit concert for Katrina relief on Sunday, October 2: Join us at the Mucky Duck on Sunday, October 2nd for an evening of great music, great art, great food and drink — all … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There were many shocking photographs taken during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Chron had three that generated a large response from its readership. The readers wanted to know what happened to the people in those pictures. Here’s what they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s a fine line between self-promotion and shamelessness. I’ve read this story several times now and I still can’t decide which side of the line Bob McNair falls on. Texans owner Bob McNair hopes Houston’s response to the Hurricane Katrina … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This story about the director of Covenant House in New Orleans bringing her kids to Covenant House in Houston is a good one. Note especially how the kids are handling it. Soon the majority of the New Orleans people had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I had the opportunity yesterday (thanks to Melissa Noriega) to get a tour of the evacuee shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center. I met with Terence Fontaine, who is on Mayor White’s Executive Staff as Deputy Chief of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Texas officials are getting good poll reviews for their efforts in dealing with Katrina evacuees, with Houston Mayor Bill White leading the way. The poll of 501 Harris County residents was conducted Friday-Sunday. The sampling error is plus or minus … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rick Noriega. The man is amazing. Noriega, who returned to Texas from Afghanistan Aug. 2, had been trying to make dinner plans with Mayor Bill White when he got a call from the mayor’s office on Aug. 31. “I’m thinking … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just a roundup of recent experiences of bloggers who’ve volunteered at evacuee shelters: Perry sees a dichotomy. Hope feels overwhelmed, while her coblogger Eileen reports some happy news. Ray came down with a cold; he also has some happy news, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m not seeing nearly as many alerts for volunteers and/or donations to Katrina victims these days. That’s good, in the sense that much of the immediate crisis of ensuring everybody is alive, fed, and healthy has been dealt with, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

More on the Texas Congressmen who voted against the aid package for Katrina victims: Here’s Shane Sklar giving it to Rep. Ron Paul in the Baytown Sun. Sklar says Paul’s ideology alienates him from the rest of Congress, which hurts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The following is another report from the George R. Brown Convention Center by Melissa Noriega, sent to me on Saturday morning. Here’s the first report, which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it already. Last week went by in … Continue reading → Continue reading →