Notes on Hurricane Harvey

Friday August 25, 2017 - 8:30 p.m.
Glad I did my grocery shopping on Tuesday, before the hurricane was predicted to actually be a hurricane.  Even on that day, store clerks were unwrapping skids of drinking water.

I did stock up yesterday on water, bleach and paper plates, after hurriedly rescheduling a Girl Scout recruiting rally I was to conduct that night.  The storm was predicted to be a category 3 (as I write this, it has morphed into a category 4 with wind speed of 140 mph!). 

Joe and I had already brought in the outdoor furniture and potted plants.  I will leave out the hummingbird feeders as long as I can today for the little fellers.  Fixed steak Diane for dinner.

The ice chest is cleaned out, my brand new drink dispenser is full of water, in case we cannot use water from the tap later.  A gallon of water is in the freezer, to drink as it thaws (a trick we used when Joe, Emilie and I used to go camping in July to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  It is a cheap vacation, but pretty hot in Texas, and that icy water was a godsend!).

Called Mom yesterday and told her we would ride it out.  Have had several offers of places to stay from friends in Austin and San Antonio.  My birding buddy, Susan, called from her temporary digs in  Laredo.  They live in Rockport, which is under a mandatory evacuation order.  Tonight she and her husband, Paul, are drinking gin and tonics at Danny and Mona's, then tomorrow she will go birding early in the morning with the Laredo birding contingent.  I am jealous!

8:45 p.m.
Cooking a pot of beans for Joe -- what a funny request!  The power is still on -- T.V. has shown the storm's progress all day on all channels.  Press conferences with the mayor, video of slick streets, reflecting the street lights, that are devoid of traffic -- kind of like on Christmas Eve.

The T.V. folk must be exhausted, though they act as if they are not.  As I took down the hummingbird feeders, one of the hummers scolded me from the neighbor's tree.  Sorry, little guy!  Young grackles were flying awkwardly from tree to tree, pushed from behind by the wind -- what a time to learn to fly!

Joe has gone in to bed.  He predicts that the weather effects will be minor here.  As we are in the southwestern quadrant, he is probably right.

Texted Kimiko, in Victoria, where Harvey is headed.  She will hunker down and hope for a good outcome.  Several other people have texted asking if we are OK.  I sheepishly have to admit to still having power.

8:53 p.m.
Still have power -- for how long?  Wind in Rockport reported at 118 mph - as fast as a tornado!

Haha!  All four news reporters sitting at the news desk are looking at their electronics at the same time.  So funny -- so contemporary.

I just opened the front door.  Can't hear much inside, but outside the wind is roaring through the trees.  The cats sit at the open door, ears back, eyes bugging out.  The beans are almost done.

Emilie called earlier to see how we were doing -- Joe said, "We are making our wills."  Her BFF from college texted me to check on our status -- sweet of her!

9:05
The power just blinked off for a nano second.  Good thing Joe completed the one task I set for him today:  put batteries in the flashlights.

11:45 p.m.
 Just ended a call from a friend in Ithaca.  Good night!

Saturday August 26, 2017 - 8:15 a.m.
My cat, Mickey, and I took a quick stroll up the cul-de-sac - a couple of fences are down, one tree (trunk about 8" in diameter) snapped close to the ground, lawns are covered with fallen leaves and small branches.  I put the hummingbird feeders back up earlier, and the birds are swarming.  Gnatcatchers and titmice twitter from the branches up high.

Cool and pleasant outside, with no rain at the moment.

Emilie has (had?) job interviews in Pt. Lavaca Tuesday (postponed indefinitely), Austin Wednesday and Houston Thursday (probably ditto).  She is anxious to go to work, but Harvey says, "Not yet."

11:00 a.m. 
Today I have spoken with Anne and John Roman in their new home in Florida, and to Mark Roman, who is planning a trip to Hawaii mid-September with his girlfriend, who will be working there.  Must be rough.... LOL

Inca Dove calling in the back yard, "No hope... no hope,"  but things are getting back to normal.  Nary a car on the streets.  The news from just north of here is horrific, but only one death so far - someone caught in a house fire.  RIP.