Hoping for the Best for Houston
One of the people I've known since...well, my first week at Arizona State, a damn long time ago....is making a crazy decision. He's going to try to ride the storm out in Houston.
Maybe he's going to be right, and he and his neighbors will come through with only a tree impaling someone's house. He's got a bunch of water, some canned foods, and his goofy dogs. The part of town he's in is about 30 feet above sea level.
Granted, I've never been through a hurricane, but that doesn't seem like enough to me.
I talked to him twice yesterday. The first time I was trying to bribe him to go to Bush Intercontinental and get on a plane, any plane, out of there. I offered to pay for first class seating, and he said he couldn't leave the dogs behind. The second time, when he mentioned heading off to El Paso, I offered to make a reservation right then at the best place in town if he would go.
He laughed, and said, What would that be? A place without roaches?
I told him he was probably right, but he promised me that he would start loading up his car. He thought he might be leaving on Friday. Maybe.
If you need a place to stay, I've got the apartment paid for until December, and dogs are ok at this complex, I told him. I won't need it after the beginning of October. He thanked me, and said he hoped he wouldn't need to take me up on it.
I had to hang up before I started crying. I wanted more than anything to go to Houston, grab him by the scruff of his neck and march him out of there at gunpoint, if necessary. What I really don't understand is that almost exactly one year ago, he willingly went to my wedding in Vegas, even though he couldn't afford it. When he really should get out of town, he's refusing to go.
I'll call him tomorrow. Hopefully all I'll get is his answering machine, with an outgoing message saying that he has left ahead of Rita.
Best of luck to anyone still left on the Gulf Coast. Here's hoping that Rita weakens some more. That would be the best anniversary present I could have.
(If he does make it to El Paso, you're damn straight I will shell out for a first-class room. Room service, too, even for the dogs.)
Maybe he's going to be right, and he and his neighbors will come through with only a tree impaling someone's house. He's got a bunch of water, some canned foods, and his goofy dogs. The part of town he's in is about 30 feet above sea level.
Granted, I've never been through a hurricane, but that doesn't seem like enough to me.
I talked to him twice yesterday. The first time I was trying to bribe him to go to Bush Intercontinental and get on a plane, any plane, out of there. I offered to pay for first class seating, and he said he couldn't leave the dogs behind. The second time, when he mentioned heading off to El Paso, I offered to make a reservation right then at the best place in town if he would go.
He laughed, and said, What would that be? A place without roaches?
I told him he was probably right, but he promised me that he would start loading up his car. He thought he might be leaving on Friday. Maybe.
If you need a place to stay, I've got the apartment paid for until December, and dogs are ok at this complex, I told him. I won't need it after the beginning of October. He thanked me, and said he hoped he wouldn't need to take me up on it.
I had to hang up before I started crying. I wanted more than anything to go to Houston, grab him by the scruff of his neck and march him out of there at gunpoint, if necessary. What I really don't understand is that almost exactly one year ago, he willingly went to my wedding in Vegas, even though he couldn't afford it. When he really should get out of town, he's refusing to go.
I'll call him tomorrow. Hopefully all I'll get is his answering machine, with an outgoing message saying that he has left ahead of Rita.
Best of luck to anyone still left on the Gulf Coast. Here's hoping that Rita weakens some more. That would be the best anniversary present I could have.
(If he does make it to El Paso, you're damn straight I will shell out for a first-class room. Room service, too, even for the dogs.)
posted by KoryO @ 1:08 AM
3 Comments:
At 2:33 PM,
DragonStormInAZ said…
KO,
For what it is worth here is a meteorologist's opinion. At this point, given the state of how less than stellar the evacuation has gone, he is probably better off where he is anyhow.
As of this posting, Rita is having to expend a lot of energy keeping up with drier air as its NE quadrant (where much of a hurricane's strength is) and is likely to be down to a category 2 by landfall (though they have to say 3 for worst case reasons). Storm surges at this category, while not negligible, are not going to approach 30 feet.
It is likely that some of Houston will be flooded, but not at his elevation. So long as his house has plenty of non electric light sources to read all those good books he has been meaning to read and will have time to read, he should be fine.
At 12:44 PM,
DragonStormInAZ said…
How is Mr. Houston doing?
At 12:44 PM,
DragonStormInAZ said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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