Hurricane Rita - Looks bad for Houston this time

[catmag 337]

My auntie and uncle were booked to go to New Orleans this coming weekend - needless to say it's not going to happen. Their son was booked to go to Egypt 2 weeks after the bomings in his resort too. They're not having the greatest holiday luck really....

[Guest alex]

Speaking of bad luck, my cousin found out his lass was pregnant a couple of weeks ago. She went for an ultrasound the other day and it's twins!

[Rob W 0]

The US space agency NASA has announced the closure of the Johnson Space Centre in Houston and has transferred control of the international space station to Russia.     

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If ever you needed a sign of how times change...

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Yup - and because the Shuttle is effetively grounded NASA will have to rent Russian rockets ..................

 

but there is quite a lot of co-operation these days anyway - Boeing are having their 787 Freighter version designed in Moscow

[catmag 337]

Speaking of bad luck, my cousin found out his lass was pregnant a couple of weeks ago. She went for an ultrasound the other day and it's twins!

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Yikes!

 

Did a caesarian at work the other day for an 11lb 9oz baby. It sure as hell wasn't coming out any other way.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Another lass I work with (we're all a bunch of unlucky bastids in here) was in the hotel next to the one that blew up in Egypt. The windows of her hotel room were blown out but thankfully she wasn't hurt. It was only 4 days into a 2 week holiday but she decided not to come home as she was on a diving holiday.

 

Looks like the lass here has had better luck and they're going to put her on a flight on Sunday instead of tomorrow so she'll only lose 2 days. Not sure where exactly she's going like.

[luckypierre 0]

talk about good luck. My mate once was planning a trip to vegas and was trying to book himself a series of fights which would have saved him something like £100 per ticket. In the end his Dad got sick of him messing about and gave him the extra money so he could just book it and get it over with. The flight he would have been on if he got his way was one of those that flew into the twin towers

[sweetleftpeg 0]

talk about good luck. My mate once was planning a trip to vegas and was trying to book himself a series of fights which would have saved him something like £100 per ticket. In the end his Dad got sick of him messing about and gave him the extra money so he could just book it and get it over with. The flight he would have been on if he got his way was one of those that flew into the twin towers

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Jesus Wept! And I mean that!

[Gemmill 46029]

talk about good luck. My mate once was planning a trip to vegas and was trying to book himself a series of fights which would have saved him something like £100 per ticket. In the end his Dad got sick of him messing about and gave him the extra money so he could just book it and get it over with. The flight he would have been on if he got his way was one of those that flew into the twin towers

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Jesus Wept! And I mean that!

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Aye there was a few people from the company I worked for on those planes. They sent an email out with a little bit about each of the people killed and I remember there was a 21 year old lass just out of university on one - only been with the company a month and had been sent away on business. Worst was one of the partners was on a flight with his two year old son. Can't even begin to imagine what it must have been liked to have your two year old with you in that situation.

[Rob W 0]

Running from Rita

Throngs make stop-and-go exodus

 

With bumper-to-bumper stretching for up to 100 miles north of the city as a million people flee vulnerable parts of the Houston area, authorities are reversing the flow of inbound lanes of I-45, I-10 and U.S. 290.

 

Traffic reporters were reporting drive times ranging as long as 13 hours from Friendswood to Conroe as mandatory evacuations in Galveston, the Clear Lake area and neighborhoods along the Houston Ship Channel put hundreds of thousands of motorists on Houston's freeways.

 

I-45 was perhaps the most clogged freeway. The main artery from Galveston through Houston and on toward Dallas, the freeway slows to an agonizing crawl beginning just inside the Sam Houston Tollway, through downtown and past Interstate 610 on the north side.

 

Avoiding the main evacuation routes was only somewhat helpful.

 

One Clear Lake evacuee reported sitting in traffic for over an hour on the tollway heading into Pasadena. In the dark before sunrise, only an endless line of red brakelights was visible, along with the glowing flares and the twinkling lights of nearby refineries. Pickups pulled boats, kids dozed in the backseats and bungee cords secured evacuees' most precious possessions in suitcases, rubber tubs and even cardboard boxes to rooftops.

 

It took Tiffany Heikkila seven hours to drive with her 5-year-old son from Sugar Land to U.S. 71 and Interstate 10. Hotel parking lots were full, she said, and lines at gas stations were backed up all the way to the exit ramps.

 

"All along the way, cars were pulled off on the shoulder with drivers sleeping. They had their doors open with one foot hanging out of the car. Traffic was so bad on 10 that people were just stopped and out walking their dogs."

 

On I-10 west of Houston, outbound traffic was more stop than go this morning. Drivers and passengers crawled on to their roofs for a better look, but traffic stretched as far as the eye could see. Cars were running out of gas as they sat in traffic, and service stations were running out of gas this morning.

 

U.S. 59 North was too much for Sarah Granbery to bear. The Rice Village resident forced herself up early to head for a friend's home in Nacogdoches. She had a full tank of gas, but less patience for the freeway. By the time she made the Crosstimbers exit, she gave up and headed back.

 

"I guess we should have left Monday," she said.

 

As the lines of traffic continued to grow this morning, authorities announced they are now opening inbound lanes of I-45 to outbound traffic from FM 1488 near Conroe as far north as Buffalo, along with U.S. 290 toward Austin. Traffic flow on I-10 toward San Antonio is to be reversed later today.

"It’s absolutely unprecedented," said Janell Gbur, a department spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation. "TxDOT has never reversed flow on a freeway."

 

At 7 a.m., Rita was centered about 490 miles east-southeast of Galveston and was moving west-northwest near 9 mph. Wind speed was 170 mph, down slightly from 175 earlier in the day.

 

This morning the projected path of the storm began to shift northward over Galveston Bay. Forecasters believe the path may continue to shift northward toward Beaumont, but it remains too early to tell where it will land late Friday night or early Saturday morning. The entire Texas Gulf Coast remains vulnerable.

 

An effort to empty endangered Harris County neighborhoods — part of what state officials called the largest mass evacuation in Texas history — began with a Wednesday morning call from Mayor Bill White and County Judge Robert Eckels for residents to voluntarily leave their homes. Mandatory evacuations, beginning with mobile home dwellers and those living in neighborhoods on Galveston Bay, began at 6 p.m.; evacuation of areas vulnerable to storm surge continued through this morning and are supposed to be complete by today.

[Zathras 266]

Understand from friends in houston today that there is panic buying of food, water, guns, boats.......................

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ffs

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With the amount of gun-point robbery looting (including at hospitals) that occured in New Orleans, I'd say it's justified in this case.

[Renton 22001]

Understand from friends in houston today that there is panic buying of food, water, guns, boats.......................

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ffs

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With the amount of gun-point robbery looting (including at hospitals) that occured in New Orleans, I'd say it's justified in this case.

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Not worth dying over property imo. Trouble is, every bugger has a gun, including a lot of the looters no doubt.

[Zathras 266]

Understand from friends in houston today that there is panic buying of food, water, guns, boats.......................

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ffs

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With the amount of gun-point robbery looting (including at hospitals) that occured in New Orleans, I'd say it's justified in this case.

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Not worth dying over property imo. Trouble is, every bugger has a gun, including a lot of the looters no doubt.

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I am not talking property; I'm talking food and medicine.

[Renton 22001]

Understand from friends in houston today that there is panic buying of food, water, guns, boats.......................

36814[/snapback]

 

ffs

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With the amount of gun-point robbery looting (including at hospitals) that occured in New Orleans, I'd say it's justified in this case.

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Not worth dying over property imo. Trouble is, every bugger has a gun, including a lot of the looters no doubt.

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I am not talking property; I'm talking food and medicine.

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Well surely if you can afford a gun, you can afford to get out of the state for a bit.

 

Mind you, I realise that in the US guns are probably pretty cheap...

[Rob W 0]

Just heard from an outfit in lahndahn - they have two texan engineers in for the week who were due to fly back Friday - they have changed their bookings to ride out the hurricane in a bar in london and go back next week............

[catmag 337]

Coldplay axe gig due to hurricane 

 

"Concerts by British bands Coldplay and Oasis at an open air music venue in Texas have been postponed ahead of Hurricane Rita. The bands were due to play at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Houston in separate shows this weekend.

 

The venue is citing safety concerns as the reason for the postponements.

 

Meanwhile, organisers of the outdoor Austin City Limits festival, which both bands are due to play before a crowd of 65,000, say the event will go ahead.

 

Coldplay had been due to headline a show at the Houston venue on Saturday, with Oasis playing the following night.

 

A concert by US rock band Journey, scheduled for Friday, has also been postponed.

 

An announcement on venue's website said: "This action is taken in the best interest and safety of the fans, artists and staff in the face of Hurricane Rita."

 

The storm, which meteorologists say could be one of the most powerful seen on the US mainland, is heading towards Texas with winds of 165mph (265km/h).

 

President George Bush has declared a state of emergency in Texas and neighbouring Louisiana.

 

Coldplay and Oasis are among the headline acts for the three-day festival which begins in Austin on Friday, along with US acts like country stars Lyle Lovett and Lucinda Williams.

 

Bloc Party, Keane, Kasabian and Franz Ferdinand are among the other British acts booked to perform.  Oasis are due to tour the US until 3 October 

 

A festival spokeswoman told the BBC news website that organisers were being advised by experts and were keeping "a very close watch on the weather".

 

"If weather conditions appear to present any kind of danger to fans, musicians or crew, we are prepared to make the necessary adjustments to maintain safety," she said.

 

"Until then, the festival is on, rain or shine."

 

One concert-goer, who has a three day pass to the festival, said: "The organisers have said they won't cancel, rain or shine.

 

"Sixty-five thousand people at a concert in a hurricane is going to be awesome."

 

Oh yeah, that sounds like my kind of evening out like! Be sure to take your waterproofs y'all - they'll save you!

[Rob W 0]

Austin is well inland - the hurricane should be down to a strong gale by the time it arrives there - but they also generate a lot of tornados..............

[sweetleftpeg 0]

"Sixty-five thousand people at a concert in a hurricane is going to be awesome." [/b]

 

Oh yeah, that sounds like my kind of evening out like! Be sure to take your waterproofs y'all - they'll save you!

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Oh aye, great fun, until half a PA system comes flying towards your head.

[Gemmill 46029]

Looks like a nightmare trying to get out of Houston. I bet whoever it was that waited at our office til 4pm to turn the server off yesterday is rueing that decision.

 

Heard a radio interview with a homeless bloke in Galveston yesterday. He's got no means of getting out and lives on the beach. Oh dear.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Looks like a nightmare trying to get out of Houston.  I bet whoever it was that waited at our office til 4pm to turn the server off yesterday is rueing that decision.

 

Heard a radio interview with a homeless bloke in Galveston yesterday.  He's got no means of getting out and lives on the beach.  Oh dear.

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I hope he can swim.

[Rob W 0]

Float might be more useful

[adios 717]

Looks like a nightmare trying to get out of Houston.  I bet whoever it was that waited at our office til 4pm to turn the server off yesterday is rueing that decision.

 

Heard a radio interview with a homeless bloke in Galveston yesterday.  He's got no means of getting out and lives on the beach.  Oh dear.

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I hope he can swim.

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Illegal tramp racing takes to the seas?

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Looks like a nightmare trying to get out of Houston.  I bet whoever it was that waited at our office til 4pm to turn the server off yesterday is rueing that decision.

 

Heard a radio interview with a homeless bloke in Galveston yesterday.  He's got no means of getting out and lives on the beach.  Oh dear.

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I hope he can swim.

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Illegal tramp racing takes to the seas?

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My money's on the Australian.

[Rob W 0]

24 evacuees die in bus fire

Associated Press

 

WILMER - A bus carrying elderly evacuees from a Bellaire assisted living center caught fire and was rocked by explosions early Friday on a gridlocked highway near Dallas, killing as many as 24 people, authorities said.

 

"Deputies were unable to get everyone off the bus," Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokesman Don Peritz said. He said he believes 24 people were killed, but that number could change.

 

The bus, with about 45 people on board, had been traveling since Thursday. Peritz declined to give details on who the passengers were.

 

Early indications were that it caught fire because of mechanical problems, then passengers' oxygen tanks started exploding, Peritz said. He said the brakes may have been on fire.

 

The bus was engulfed with flames, causing a lengthy backup on Interstate 45 already congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast. The bus was reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell with large blue tarps covering many seats, surrounded by police cars and ambulances.

 

Tina Jones, a nurse from Ennis, was driving behind the bus when she saw it start to smoke and pull to the side of the road.

 

"I saw the smoke and then there was an explosions," said Jones, who pulled over and helped treat cuts and bruises. She said she saw at least six bodies.

 

"I'll probably go home and have a good cry," she said.

 

Peritz said the driver survived. "It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people," he said.

 

Interstate 45 stretches more than 250 miles from Galveston through Houston to Dallas. The crash site is roughly 17 miles southeast of downtown Dallas.

 

Gov. Rick Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said traffic on I-45 would be diverted at Ennis, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas. She said it was unclear how far the gridlock extended.

[Kid Dynamite 7169]

who the fuck wants to live in america! and to th ink they are always complaining that they couldnt live over here cos of the shit weather!

[Rob W 0]

Indeed!!!