Getting the hell out of Dodge
As you all are undoubtedly aware, there is now a Category 5 Hurricane (note capital letters), Hurricane Rita, barreling straight towards Houston. You may not be aware that I recently moved to Houston - I arrived the 1st of September. Lower portions of the city are now under voluntary evacuation. To give you a sense of scale of the evacuation, Houston and the surrounding area is home to nearly 5 million people. After watching New Orleans helplessly drown on TV, no one is considering riding this one out.
Houston does not lie below sea level like New Orleans, but that will not stop flooding. That just means that the storm surge will eventually be drained by gravity. Predicted storm surge for a category five hurricanne in our area is in excess of 18 feet. Luckily, Molly and I live on the second floor, so we've got the first 14 feet covered; it's that last four+ feet are really going to be a bitch.
We have both evacuated - Molly dropped me off at the airport yesterday on her way to Dallas with the cat and a half-carload of critical items. For those of you who have never traveled with a cat, it is kind of like driving with a small, hairly, recalcitrant child. We didn't even drive one freeway exit past our starting point before our cat soiled his cage. Knowing the cat, I'd say it was done more out of anger than fear. Anyway, after a brief stop for a clean-up operation, we were underway. Molly made it to Dallas, and I made it to Providence, RI.
The reason that I flew out is because I have my Ph.D. thesis defense scheduled for Monday Sept. 26th. I was orginially scheduled to fly out Saturday morning, but had to buy another ticket. The airline still insists my original flight hasn't been cancelled, but I think they're being overly optimistic. I doubt they'll be flying into sustained wind speeds of 173 miles per hour.
I'm not too worried about my thesis defense, mostly because I'm more concerned about my home and future job. The Johnson Space Center was built to withstand a category three hurricane. Your guess is as good as mine about how it will fare it a category five.
I always said that I would get my Ph.D. come hell or high water. I really didn't expect both.
Cheers,
Brad
Houston does not lie below sea level like New Orleans, but that will not stop flooding. That just means that the storm surge will eventually be drained by gravity. Predicted storm surge for a category five hurricanne in our area is in excess of 18 feet. Luckily, Molly and I live on the second floor, so we've got the first 14 feet covered; it's that last four+ feet are really going to be a bitch.
We have both evacuated - Molly dropped me off at the airport yesterday on her way to Dallas with the cat and a half-carload of critical items. For those of you who have never traveled with a cat, it is kind of like driving with a small, hairly, recalcitrant child. We didn't even drive one freeway exit past our starting point before our cat soiled his cage. Knowing the cat, I'd say it was done more out of anger than fear. Anyway, after a brief stop for a clean-up operation, we were underway. Molly made it to Dallas, and I made it to Providence, RI.
The reason that I flew out is because I have my Ph.D. thesis defense scheduled for Monday Sept. 26th. I was orginially scheduled to fly out Saturday morning, but had to buy another ticket. The airline still insists my original flight hasn't been cancelled, but I think they're being overly optimistic. I doubt they'll be flying into sustained wind speeds of 173 miles per hour.
I'm not too worried about my thesis defense, mostly because I'm more concerned about my home and future job. The Johnson Space Center was built to withstand a category three hurricane. Your guess is as good as mine about how it will fare it a category five.
I always said that I would get my Ph.D. come hell or high water. I really didn't expect both.
Cheers,
Brad
posted by Bradley Thomson at 7:51 AM
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