Coverage of Rita from Two Houston Apartments

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Greetings from another Houston apartment

Hi! This is my first post on this blog, so I guess I should introduce myself: My name is Mathias, I'm a graduate student in the Computer Science department of Rice University. I live in a one-bedroom apartment a little South of Rice's campus. I'm right next to Braes Bayou, so I expect some flooding for a couple of days, but since I'm on the 2nd floor, I'm not worried about that. There are cracks in my walls, and the windows and doors don't shut properly, so I am worried about wind damage. I can't really imagine that the storm tears my apartment's roof off. Does that really happen? My apartment complex has been described as "ghetto", but I really love it. It's my home.

I just saw that my neighbors covered their windows with clear packaging tape, not even duct tape. As if that's gonna do anything. I still feel like I should do something. I don't have plywood, unfortunately, but I have a lot of cardboard. I realize that's not going to do a whole lot, but maybe it keeps the windows from being blown away completely. If at all possible, I want to keep the rain out. Wet carpet, wet furniture, wet books, wet PCs... all not so good. But should I tape it to the inside or the outside? Right now I think to the inside. That way, the cardboard doesn't get soaked right away.

I'll also move my books and some of my furniture away from the windows. Justin has offered to help me move my computers out of my apartment. I'll probably take him up on that offer tomorrow. I haven't made up my mind if I'm going to leave my apartment. I'll definitely stay in Houston, though. I don't feel like my life is in danger, I don't feel like I'll get hurt, so I want to stay where I can protect my property and help my friends.

Today, Rice changed its message for graduate students. It used to say "stay in the graduate apartments; if you're off-campus, you're welcome in our on-campus shelter in McNair Hall". Now they told all students in the graduate apartments to move to McNair Hall. I'm puzzled by that. Does that mean the graduate apartments aren't safe? They're probably in much better shape than my apartment complex. In light of that, I have started to pack my trekking backpack with clothing, blanket, pillow, and medication, so I can leave if I feel like I need to leave my apartment behind and take shelter at Rice. Tropical storm force winds are expected to hit Houston around 3 PM on Friday, hurricane force winds around 7 PM, so I'll make the decision to move out so I can get to safety before 7 PM.

For the last 18 hours, the projected path has moved so far East towards Louisiana, though, that my part of Houston isn't even expected to have hurricane force winds. Rita also isn't category 5 anymore, as expected it died town to a healthy category 4. Of course, all of that isn't certain. Rita might still hit Houston hard. And even if we get lucky and it misses, this storm poses some important questions: What would have happened if a category 5 storm hits Houston? Shouldn't Houston prepare for this eventuality? Overland power lines and wood houses probably aren't adequate.

I'll post a few more times. Then there'll be silence. I expect that the power will be out for a few days... some people even say for up to two weeks. I know I'll be alive and well, and I'll do my best to let you know so you don't have to be worried. Thanks for reading.

Update

Elspeth, I love you! I don't know how you found this so quickly, but thank you for caring so much.

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