Rita: Urgent Notice to Spaceland Jumpers

[gemini 0]

Friday Morning:

It was a surprise at sunrise today. It was calm, but very cool. Birds were chattering well before dawn and now there are none to be seen. Guess they are all hiding as the winds pick up.

It has been over 100 F the last several days which did not help the evacuation yesterday. A lot of drivers spent the night on the side of the road at the 181 mile marker on IH45 North.

Forecast for the storm is still NW between Houston and Beaumont. This will put Beaumont on the dirty side of the storm.

NW Louisiana is getting 40 mph winds this morning and LO got rain. Worse the storm surge started and one of the levees broke at one of the previous break locations. Unfortunately it is the break the helicopters dropped the 3000lb sandbags on so there is no easy way to get to the break.

Winds this afternoon in Houston are breezy. 10 - 18 mph with gusts to 20. Storm is still 140 miles SE of Galveston. Clouds appear to be very high. We've had several bands of clouds pass over the city, but not a drop of rain.

Galveston has minor street flooding already in the West and North sides of of the island and it hasn't rained yet. Waves look like they are 6 - 8 ft and are already slapping the seawall.

Houston is a ghost town. Very little traffic on the roads. Strange, but even the freeways are now clear.

Shipley DoNuts is still open along with several gas station/convenience stores. Saw a crowd buying beer this morning. Guess they've got the day off and want to party!

Milkway cooked a turkey dinner for everyone last night. Was really nice of her and Stevie. Trent took some over to Tom J and Kimmie this afternoon and we had it again.

Kimmie's dogs seem to know something is not normal. People at the house on a Friday? I don't think they are used to that.

It is very hot again. Kinda' think the storm is now throwing off heat, because the sun hasn't been out since early this morning. It's bright, but the clouds are getting thicker.

I'll keep everyone posted as long as the power lasts.

Blue skies,

Jim

[gemini 0]

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why didn't you get out and go to POP's?

My wife was supposed to go to Amsterdam on Thursday and the storm was headed directly to Houston. I had a feeling she was not gona' be able to make the flight and I was right. It was 6 - 8 hours from inside the loop to IAH. Gave me a chance to get the house ready and pack the essentials. Plus Tom J and I went out to the dz to pick up people's gear and see if anything needed to be done.

I could have easily made my flight out of Hobby to Ontario, but thought I'd better stay in case something happens to the house. Good thing to since my wife is now in the emergency room until Sunday evening.

Hope Carey understands. Wish I was there!

Blue skies,

Jim

[gemini 0]

Looks like tropical winds may have just arrived. Very strong gusts around 40 mph and very dark clouds. Winds are coming from the Northeast which means the storm is still to the East of Houston.

Now the "fun" begins!

Blue skies,

Jim

[gemini 0]

Houston and Galveston had several reported instances of looting yesterday and one so far today. In two instances HPD caught the looters inside the stores. The looters were not very bright today. They broke into a store last night by kicking the glass out of a door. The owner was called and he boarded up the door. The looters came back today and kicked in the plywood. Across the street in a pawn shop parking lot was an HPD unit watching for looters!

Blue skies,

Jim

[flyangel2 2]

Sending vibes to your wife and I'm sure Carey understands. Hell, I won't get there till Saturday.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[gemini 0]

Electric co is reporting almost 1000 scattered power outages already in the Galveston-Houston area. Tree limbs falling on power lines at this time. Minor flooding reported in the Kemah recreation area of Clear Lake.

Blue skies,

Jim

[gemini 0]

Been sprinkling rain for last hour. First heavy rain hit a few minutes ago. Winds gusting to 53. It is very dark overhead, but can see blue sky to the West.

Blue skies,

Jim

[Rebecca 0]

We're seeing some nice cloud colors to the west, purple and pink and orange; blue to the east, but not entirely clear, sort of opaque.

Sprinkles and light showers so far... a bit ominous of course.

All's well.

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[jdhill 0]

From the SW corner of the loop... Sunset was pretty cool... winds getting a little gusty... light rain...

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[Amanduh 0]

NW side off of 290: Agree on the sunset...beautiful peach/pink & light purple...gorgeous! Winds are starting to pick up gusting to a little over 30 mph...trees are bending down and dust/sand is blowin around.. No rain just yet, but it is getting dark and the clouds are rollin in. This is just the beginning..*cracks another bud light* hehe

[loflyer 0]

From all of us at Skydive Taft, our prayers & thoughts are with you all at Skydive Spaceland... Good Luck!

[gemini 0]

Pretty strong wind gusts right now with light rain. Wind is still out of the North/Northeast. Heard several power line transformers blow up a few minutes ago. Power company estimates 50K without power in the metro area including Galveston.

Port Arthur is getting hammered! Hope they don't get much rain. They have levees around their city also. Look at the size of this storm!

Blue skies,

Jim

[Rebecca 0]

Rita,

I have to say, you almost had me. Almost.

That little Cat. 5 stunt you pulled the other day was really quite clever. I suppose you're proud of yourself for the traffic chaos and gasoline "charlie foxtrot" that naturally ensued.

It was then however, that I began to believe you were bluffing. You see Rita, everyone knows a Cat. 5 sprint can only last so long. And everyone was right.

That westward trend, northward jog fake-out was just damn cruel. You and your bitch-ass cronies haven't done enough to Louisiana?

I'm ready. I was ready for worse. Kiss my ass, Rita - and LEAVE LOUISIANA ALONE!!!

Much obliged,

R

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[nbblood 0]

Well, the power has been out here 6 times already. Wind is blowing pretty hard and it's been raining good for about 3 hours now. Thing is, I know we haven't even come close to seeing the worst yet. I'm just glad I'm as far inland as I am. Feel like I got a bullseye on my back for this one.

Blues,
Nathan

Blues,
Nathan

If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

[skip 0]

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I have to say, you almost had me.

Aymen!

Now my question – If the weather is nice on Sunday, which I will put dollars down that it will be, will we have a plane at Spaceland? I can not think of a better way to celebrate this “miss” then making a skydive or two.

neilp

[Amanduh 0]

11:05 pm: Still not much going on. Got a little bit of rain, but it wasn't heavy at all. WInds have calmed down and we might see a gust of 15 mph every so often..but that's about it.

*Edited to add: A friend who is about 10 minutes away told me that a few transformers have blown out around his area but so far he's been lucky to keep his power.

[skip 0]

No – seriously, where are we skydiving Sunday?

Heck, Far!!!

neil p

[jdhill 0]

Saturday 8:00 AM/SW Side-

Winds are still gusty, but are from the SW to WSW... radar is strarting to clear up too... I haven't outside yet, but no evidence of damage from the inside... I lost power for about a minute at about 6AM, but it came right back... a few blips earlier, enough to make the UPS start beeping, but didn't effect the TV... DirecTV and cable modem stayed up all night... Winds really picked up about 3AM, enough to move our guests into our "safe" area as a precaution (5 cats in 500 s.f. was kinda interesting for a little while)

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[Slappie 9]

8am Galleria area.. Still have some winds, bit of sprinkles. Not much left. I did have a small emergency at 1:30am. We had an electrical breaker box door fly open and bang against the building. Went out to secure it. Went to bed.

We never lost power, cable tv is a bit messed up.

I haven't been out and about but I'll check the neighborhood and expect not much to report from here.

"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."

[Rebecca 0]

All I have to say is, "Meh."



(Don't get me wrong - it could have been very much worse. But like Slappie said, it's a bit of a letdown.)

Hope everyone out there is OK - Louisiana folks? Hang in there.

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[Stephen 0]

I am very happy to report there was no damage or flooding at Spaceland. In fact there was very little rain. I will be returning with the otter as soon as tomorrow. There is a temporary flight restriction over and around houston, including Spaceland. I will see if it is effect tomorrow morning and deal with it one way or the other. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. See you all soon,
Steve Boyd

[Amanduh 0]

Great news, Steve! Let us all know if they remove the restrictions and we can jump tomorrow!

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[wmw999 2,123]

I'm back home (we left early), everything is fine in beautiful Clear Lake. The dogs are VERY happy to be back in their own back yard. Our devastation was limited to pine cones.

That said, a lot of good things happened here. The worse "personal" disaster was that the neighbor's parents ran out of gas and were transported to a shelter rather than making it to Dallas. When the first shelter turned out not to have air conditioning (they are older), they were taken to a second shelter with AC.

While it's a shame they had to leave their car, there were plans in place that had them safe and comfortable.

I really hope that if another big storm comes, people won't decide to ride it out because Rita turned into a kitten. It would still be gruesome if it were to come up the west end of Galveston.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Rebecca 0]

Glad to see all is well for Spaceland and everyone else.
It's weird: all that preparing and watching and waiting were exhausting. Even sitting around doing nothing was tiring. Now that I'm back at work, it doesn't feel like we just had a '4-day weekend'

Anyone else in the same boat?

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[Slappie 9]

Quote

Glad to see all is well for Spaceland and everyone else.
It's weird: all that preparing and watching and waiting were exhausting. Even sitting around doing nothing was tiring. Now that I'm back at work, it doesn't feel like we just had a '4-day weekend'

Anyone else in the same boat?

I didn't fully start to relax (like a day off) till yesterday afternoon. Then I got tenced and started stressing about coming back to work today. Funny how that shit works. Had to come back to work to get some rest.

"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."