Prayer please Ida evacuation

[TexasProud]

My son spent 4 1/2 hours driving bumber to bumper yesterday leaving out of New Orleans. Was exhausted, spent night in hotel. Got up before crack of dawn and had trouble finding gas.  Bumper to bumper again . Going to MIL in Houston.  Pray for his safety and those like him. 

[HeartString]

Just now, TexasProud said:

My son spent 4 1/2 hours driving bumber to bumper yesterday leaving out of New Orleans. Was exhausted, spent night in hotel. Got up before crack of dawn and had trouble finding gas.  Bumper to bumper again . Going to MIL in Houston.  Pray for his safety and those like him. 

I’m glad he got out.   I saw that the mayor is advising people to sit tight now because it’s too late to try to evacuate.  

[TheReader]

Praying; it's so difficult. If he's able to get off onto back roads at all, the evacuation will go more quickly (but I know that's challenging at best, and maybe not a headache he wants). 

I'm so glad he's evacuating. 

[TheReader]

Just now, HeartString said:

I’m glad he got out.   I saw that the mayor is advising people to sit tight now because it’s too late to try to evacuate.  

I don't entirely understand that, unless they just mean the traffic at this point?? That is insane, for a storm not hitting until tomorrow. Praying for all those stuck staying. This is going to be devastating.

[TexasProud]

Just now, HeartString said:

I’m glad he got out.   I saw that the mayor is advising people to sit tight now because it’s too late to try to evacuate.  

Me, too because his house he is renting probably won’t make it.  Oh… and his employer sent an email that he expects all warehouse employees to be there Monday.😡

[mommyoffive]

Sending prayers his way.  I hope he makes it safely.   Being at work on Monday.   Nuts!

[chiguirre]

13 minutes ago, TexasProud said:

Me, too because his house he is renting probably won’t make it.  Oh… and his employer sent an email that he expects all warehouse employees to be there Monday.😡

That dude will be lucky if his warehouse is there Monday, let alone the employees.

14 minutes ago, TheReader said:

I don't entirely understand that, unless they just mean the traffic at this point?? That is insane, for a storm not hitting until tomorrow. Praying for all those stuck staying. This is going to be devastating.

I think Hurricane Rita was before you lived in Houston. 24 hours really isn't enough time for the bumper to bumper traffic to clear. We have friends in Katy that drove to Austin. It took them 20 hours. Luckily Rita gave Houston a miss and nobody was stuck in their car during the storm.

 

[TexasProud]

12 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

That dude will be lucky if his warehouse is there Monday, let alone the employees.

Yep. 

Got word he is in Texas, though not to MIL’s. But I feel better. 

[KSera]

18 minutes ago, TexasProud said:

Yep. 

Got word he is in Texas, though not to MIL’s. But I feel better. 

Good to hear. Prayers for him and for all those stuck sheltering in place. 

[MercyA]

Thanks for the update, @TexasProud. Praying here.

[Kassia]

 

4 minutes ago, KSera said:

Good to hear. Prayers for him and for all those stuck sheltering in place. 

Yes, this is exactly what I was going to write.  I have a lot of friends in NOLA and am so nervous for them. 

[Pawz4me]

54 minutes ago, TheReader said:

I don't entirely understand that, unless they just mean the traffic at this point?? That is insane, for a storm not hitting until tomorrow. Praying for all those stuck staying. This is going to be devastating.

Probably traffic + fuel shortages.

I'm very worried about all the overflowing hospitals. What are they going to do with all those Covid patients?

[TravelingChris]

34 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

That dude will be lucky if his warehouse is there Monday, let alone the employees.

I think Hurricane Rita was before you lived in Houston. 24 hours really isn't enough time for the bumper to bumper traffic to clear. We have friends in Katy that drove to Austin. It took them 20 hours. Luckily Rita gave Houston a miss and nobody was stuck in their car during the storm.

 

I am in Northern AL.  I am going to be slowly getting ready to evacuate because we may be getting tornados and while we have a generator, it is not full house.  I can't be in an un-airconditioned  house.  I have medications that need refrigeration too.  During the April 2011 super tornado swarm, our area (we moved here in July 2011) lost power for 10 days because tornadoes destroyed so many of our electrical towers.  Fortunately, dh is now working almost exclusively remotely so no concerns there plus the US govt (he is a contractor for them) is super cautious and closes even for 35 mph wind forecasts,  Last time we had warnings about tropical storm stuff happening- most places closed and no one was driving around so ds and I decided to go to the open movie theater--- the wind and rain was less than our typical strong summer storms- no issues driving at all.

[desertflower]

Sending prayers! Glad he is in Texas. 

[TexasProud]

20 minutes ago, Kassia said:

 

Yes, this is exactly what I was going to write.  I have a lot of friends in NOLA and am so nervous for them. 

Yes, I have friends with relatives sheltering in place. Still praying.  My son made it to MIL. 

[Catwoman]

I'm so glad your son made it to your MIL's house -- you must be so relieved! 

[prairiewindmomma]

58 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

 I have medications that need refrigeration too.  

Do you have Frio bags? We used them as evaporative coolers when we had power loss. They did keep temperature while I prepped to leave when we had a long outage. The main tip is to bag your boxed medicine in ziplock before you put it into the Frio so it doesn’t get damp. The large Frios are big enough for epipens and biologics.
 

https://www.amazon.com/Insulin-Cooling-Reusable-Evaporative-Medication/dp/B0002262DA

Edited August 28, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[prairiewindmomma]

Hugs. 

[ktgrok]

7 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Do you have Frio bags? We used them as evaporative coolers when we had power loss. They did keep temperature while I prepped to leave when we had a long outage. The main tip is to bag your boxed medicine in ziplock before you put it into the Frio so it doesn’t get damp. The large Frios are big enough for epipens and biologics.
 

https://www.amazon.com/Insulin-Cooling-Reusable-Evaporative-Medication/dp/B0002262DA

If she is in an area with high humidity I don't think those really work - evaporative cooking requires lowish humidity. May be fine where she is, but just a heads up. A lot of "cooling" stuff is worth nothing here in Florida because it can't evaporate. 

[aggie96]

Absolutely hate that LA is getting hammered again. The Gulf Coast has just been treacherous these last few years. 😞 For those wondering, it's too late to evacuate. Too much traffic, no fuel, the logistics just do not line up. The news/weather guys have been warning last 48 hours to leave or be prepared to shelter-in-place. As Houston well knows, it's very hard to make the decisions. Just so hard. Plus Ida is coming on extremely fast. I just hate it for everyone in it's path. This could be a real whopper.

[TheReader]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

Probably traffic + fuel shortages.

I'm very worried about all the overflowing hospitals. What are they going to do with all those Covid patients?

During Rita they evacuated the hospitals, though even then they told people to write names/id numbers on themselves and family with sharpie, b/c you couldn't be sure where they'd end up. 

No idea what or how they'll handle it with really no hospitals to evacuate TO. 

1 hour ago, chiguirre said:

That dude will be lucky if his warehouse is there Monday, let alone the employees.

I think Hurricane Rita was before you lived in Houston. 24 hours really isn't enough time for the bumper to bumper traffic to clear. We have friends in Katy that drove to Austin. It took them 20 hours. Luckily Rita gave Houston a miss and nobody was stuck in their car during the storm.

 

We were here in Rita, and I do remember that.....I'd thought maybe it improved since (none of our evacuations since Rita have been like that, here). So awful. 

*we were able to get to Dallas in about 6 hours, because we used all back roads, but my SIL took 20-ish hours I think to get to San Antonio b/c traffic. DH reminded me that getting out of NO is even worse b/c there's really just I-10 and it's such a small interstate through so much of the area b/w NO and Houston. 

Praying those who have to hunker down are able to stay safe. 

[prairiewindmomma]

3 hours ago, ktgrok said:

If she is in an area with high humidity I don't think those really work - evaporative cooking requires lowish humidity. May be fine where she is, but just a heads up. A lot of "cooling" stuff is worth nothing here in Florida because it can't evaporate. 

They worked when we lived in TX. I just compared humidity to the city we lived in to the area you lived in and today, they are within 5% of each other. It starts to lose efficacy at 85% humidity according to Frio’s website.

[Bootsie]

2 hours ago, TheReader said:

 

*we were able to get to Dallas in about 6 hours, because we used all back roads, but my SIL took 20-ish hours I think to get to San Antonio b/c traffic. DH reminded me that getting out of NO is even worse b/c there's really just I-10 and it's such a small interstate through so much of the area b/w NO and Houston. 

 

And if you are travelling west on I-10 you have to cross the Atchafalaya Basin on an over 18-mile bridge with no practical exits.  If a car breaks down or there is an accident, that is a mess.  

[Kassia]

A friend of mine who lives in NOLA evacuated last night.  He has a breakthrough case of Covid (fully vaccinated with Pfizer 3.5 months ago) and said it's like a bad flu.  He was going to stay since he wasn't up to packing and traveling, but once he found out it could be Cat 4 he got out of there.  I can't imagine going through that while being sick.  He's 54 and in very good health/shape.  

Everyone else I know who wanted to evacuate was able to.  Just one couple chose to stay.  

[TravelingChris]

3 hours ago, ktgrok said:

If she is in an area with high humidity I don't think those really work - evaporative cooking requires lowish humidity. May be fine where she is, but just a heads up. A lot of "cooling" stuff is worth nothing here in Florida because it can't evaporate. 

yeah, I am in an area w/super high humidity.

[MEmama]

5 minutes ago, Kassia said:

A friend of mine who lives in NOLA evacuated last night.  He has a breakthrough case of Covid (fully vaccinated with Pfizer 3.5 months ago) and said it's like a bad flu.  He was going to stay since he wasn't up to packing and traveling, but once he found out it could be Cat 4 he got out of there.  I can't imagine going through that while being sick.  He's 54 and in very good health/shape.  

Everyone else I know who wanted to evacuate was able to.  Just one couple chose to stay.  

Thinking of him and everyone in the area. I have no words, just virtual hugs.