WOO HOO! I Found Water!!!!

I just came back from an early morning shopping trip. When I say early, I mean EARLY! 2 am early. That's when the grocery store by my place restocks. Earlier in the afternoon, I hit 4 grocery stores and the shelves were empty. No water, batteries or tuna to be found. The gas station I went to had lines at all of their pumps and 2 of the pumps were dry. I think everyone down here is a little freaked by Rita. Well, let's face it, Houston is WAY overdue for it's hurricane.

I'm encountering 2 very different responses to Rita. On one hand, you've got the people who are concerned (at the very least) and are prepping 5 days before her expected landfall. These tend to be the people who are natives to the coast or at least were here during Alicia (I fall in this category). Then there are the ones who are rather blasé about Rita. They tend to be non-natives. I just talked to a non-native friend of mine and he's doing nothing to prep for the hurricane. It's a little disconcerting. I don't think Rita will be as bad as Katrina (I hope not), but a hurricane is nothing to sneeze at. Even this far inland, she can cause trouble for us. I remember Alicia - no electricity, lots of water, damage to the house, trees downed, etc. Granted, our house was under renovations when Alicia hit, so the water in the house was due to the hole in our roof (we were getting ready to put a skylight in, so there was a big ol' hole over the living room). Still, Alicia was no picnic.

I'm not in panic mode...yet. I'll wait till the forecast models are a little more accurate before deciding whether or not to move into the panic stage. In the meantime, we're stocked on water, canned beans, tuna and snacks. I'll stock up on wine tomorrow. So if any of y'all are floating by the house when Rita blows through, come on in for a little hurricane party!

Good luck, Houston!