Live From Camp Tidbit

Reporting here from Camp Tidbit!

We’re safely established at our first-choice shelter. So far, so good. We have TV, computer access (want to limit it, though, in case IP addresses are being monitored), lots of food, water, personal hygiene stuff, animals, books, air mattress… we’re in business!

Funny thing is that now it looks like Rita will hit to our east, putting us on the “clean” side and in a much better position than we thought we were last night. I’m half-tempted to suggest we go back home, but we’ve settled in and unpacked so unless we get caught and kicked out, we’re here for the duration.

The city was pretty empty on our trips over today. Downtown had a little bit of activity this morning on our first supply drop-off, but by our final trip with the pets at 4 pm, only vagrants and cops were downtown.

The freeways were bumper to bumper earlier today, but they’ve opened up the HOV and contra-flow to help people get out of the city. Of course this isn’t much help once you get beyond the contra-flow area and onto the 2-lane highways outside of town, but at least it gets people moving a bit and might help them reach their destinations before they run out of gas.

Or not. I talked to a cousin near Austin today and he said the gas stations were out of gas and the stores nearly empty. Austin and San Antonio are expecting heavy rain and tornados and I think Dallas expects possible flooding as well.

But at this point, unless the storm turns back toward us, we’re out of the woods.

At least as much as one can be in the path of a major hurricane.