Whew, glad they had these signs all the way to Dallas, we had no idea!!
If you'd asked me 3 years ago if I'd be thankful for the craziness that was Rita, I would have answered with an emphatic "NO!" I am seriously still scarred by that experience. But after Ike, I can honestly say that I am a little thankful for what we went through with Rita. (at least it has made this situation much easier for me.) So, I thought as I am sitting watching Ike go over our house, this would be a good time to share some of my thoughts.
1. Rita--I remember walking thru the house almost in tears, not sure what to take, what to leave. I didn't want to put it on the floor for fear of flooding, but not too high either in case the roof blew off.
Ike--I walked thru the house, grabbed our pictures and saw the rest as only "stuff."
2. Rita--We had NO idea what to take. I had no emergency medical stuff, very few batteries, and not really sure what else I should take.
Ike--We now have a "Hurricane evacuation kit" full of emergency medicine, supplies and even food. I threw it in the trunk and moved on.
3. Rita--We actually got plywood to board up the windows on Monday (storm hit Saturday), but it took forever to measure and cut them. (my first experience with a power saw and Lichar wasn't even home--Be afraid!!) Plus we didn't have a power drill, only a rechargeable one. We could hang a few boards, then stop and recharge the battery again.
Ike--Dragged the boards out of the garage and boarded up in less than an hour. (We bought a power drill before we went back home from Rita.)
(Don't look at our over grown weeds....that's what happens when the "gardener" is pregnant and really shouldn't be using Roundup.)
4. Rita--Took us 13 hours to make a 2 hour drive. We followed directions from authorities and didn't leave before our evacuation time. We could have started evacuation at noon on that day, but we didn't leave until 8 that night.
Ike--Evacuations were to start at noon on Thursday. We left at noon on Thursday. Made a 4 hour trip to Dallas in a little over 9. (with lots more stops)
5. Rita--I could have walked next to the car for most of trip. It was miserable.
Ike--Because of Rita, we thought traffic that was averaging 40 mph was great! Funny how it's all about perspective.
6. Rita--Stopped once for food and once for bathroom. No food or supplies with us.
Ike--Had food for several days in the car and stopped 4 times for bathroom (I blame that on Dingetje) and once for a sit down dinner.
7. Rita--For about a week we were worried about it directly hitting us as a Cat. 4 or 5 storm. That leaves 4-5 days to worry, ponder and stress about what to do.
Ike--The track changed daily and only Thursday morning was it scheduled to hit us--we evacuated the same day. We had about 24 hours that we even considered evacuating, and only about 5 hours between when mandatory evac was announced and when we left.
8. Rita--Pulling out of the driveway I was VERY sad, I even almost cried. Then as the black cat ran across the street just two houses down from our house, I did cry!
Ike--Still very sad pulling away, but much calmer and relieved that we were getting out at least a little before the rush.
8. Rita--No damage to the house, minimal "mess" in the yard.
Ike--???????????
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