Geek Habitat

I visited my parents this evening, and on the way home figured I’d fill up my gas tank to avoid any hassles later in the week due to weather, higher gas prices, etc. Seems the rest of the world had the same idea… I passed three gas stations and each one had several dozen vehicles in line. This, at 11 PM on a Wednesday. Couple that with the fact that nearly every vehicle I saw in the slow lane on Hwy 1604 was a charter bus, and I get the sense that Hurricane Rita is no longer just a false-color radar image on TV, she’s an unwelcome visitor heading straight to our doorstep.

We got an email from a gentleman we met at the Ellington Field (Houston) airshow the year before last. He lives in Houston and decided today that it would be wise to evacuate {Hurricane Rita has become the third most intense hurricane on record.} He began calling hotels and motels last night. Guess where he and his family are evacuating to? MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE… that’s where the nearest hotel vacancy he could find is located. He’ll be there until Monday, and then it’s anybody’s guess from there.

I’ve said it several times this evening, and it bears repeating here — San Antonio is as near to the coast as I ever want to live. Hoping to top off your gas tank (ha!) and buying groceries and some bottled water for good measure is one thing… having to board up your doors and windows and evacuate is entirely a different matter.

Godspeed to everyone affected. We’ll be fine here in San Antonio, though I don’t begrudge anyone who fled Katrina from wanting to get even further away from the coast. Our greatest dangers here in town are street and creekbed flooding, coupled with wind damage or (worst case) hurricane-spawned tornadoes.