Texas in our hearts

[Norcalbaker59]

All our friends in Texas, Ninamari & ChesterV, you're in our hearts. Hopefully this hurricane will spare you, your family, friend's, and neighbors.

Cate aka Norcalbaker59

 

[Apocalypso]

Indeed. Hope everyone is safe. As a Floridian, I've been in the zone many times but have thankfully not been in a direct hit so far.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Florida is at risk every hurricane season. When we were looking for a house there I was totally neurotic about trying to find a house that wasn't in a flood zone. But I got over hurricanes after my husband told me those "Beware of Alligators" signs weren't just cute garden decorations. When we decided on a house, the agent told us to screen in the patio to guard against alligators since we were so close to the St. John's river. I laughed cuz I though she was joking--then she said she was serious.

And I almost had a heart attack while trying to play golf around giant lizards on the fairway when we took a week trip to Miami. Those monitor lizards are huge! I kept screaming, "Komodo Dragons, Komodo Dragons!" as I ran back to the golf cart.

You really have to be a woman of substance to live among the alligators and dragons in Florida. I tip my hat to you.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Well it's not looking good for Texas. Hurricane just made landfall as a full Category 4. I really pray this does not turn into another Katrina My son and DIL are out of harms way in Dallas, but, they have close friends in Houston and Austin. All of who refused to evacuate.

 

[ChesterV]

Ive been keeping an eye on that, and its really weird that the hurricane is in the EXACT same spot it was last night before I went to bed as it was this morning when I got up!

Now its saturday night and Im looking at it again, and it has moved inland and is breaking up, but still looks like it isnt moving much.

The only thing we have seen in DFW is rain. We will probably get rain for a week around here, but thats as much of the hurricane as we will see up this far.

It looked like it was going to go across S. Texas and into Mexico, but it seems this afternoon it started going back towards Houston. I SUPPOSE it could build up again, but thats unlikely seeing as it came inland already.

But........Mother Nature is a big old "B".......and you never know what she will do!

Reminds me of the old Chiffon ads....

 

[Apocalypso]

Yes, that concentrated rainfall and the flooding are awful. A friend posted pics of her friend's flooded house. Terrible.

As for alligators, I am frightened by them but there are only so many times i've been close to them. Once was canoeing in Wekiwa Springs - many years ago, but my friends didn't really warn me beforehand. I was quietly terrified. Haven't encountered any really big lizards, just the littler ones, which unfortunately are no match for my wily cats unless I save them if they manage to get inside somehow.

Last October we had our one big hurricane scare, first in a good while. I packed up my cats and went to my boyfriend's house, where we hunkered down, but it decided to give Orlando mostly a miss and go up the coast. Saint Augustine got pounded. I was worried about the one feral cat I couldn't catch and bring with me, but he was fine.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

The monitor lizards get as big as an alligator. They average about 4 - 5 ft long, but have been found to grow over 6 ft. They are scary looking! And they will eat anything, including family pets. So our cat was strictly an indoor cat. The closest to outdoors she was allowed was in the screened porch.

We sold our house in St. Augustine in 20011. It was a vacation home, so we weren't there full time. The area we were in was pretty badly hit by Matthew. But no where near as bad as Texas is getting hit now.

I can't believe the govt didn't evacuate Houston. A colleague of my DIL was trapped and had to be rescued from her house. Watching the news is heartbreaking.

 

[RedShoe]

I've had family evacuated and moved to higher ground. I've got family flooded out. I've got family stuck at work because it's safer there than on the roads. It's scary watching all this knowing you've got loved ones in the middle of it all.

 

[ninamari]

@Norcalbaker59 thank you for the well wishes, I'm not in the Texas area (I'm in Illinois) but I appreciate your thoughts I grew up in the Caribbean and experienced a few hurricanes and seen some of their destructive power first hand. I'm happy to hear your son and DIL are out of harm's way and do hope their friends are safe as well.

@ChesterV I'm glad to hear you're ok as well and that you've only gotten rain. Hopefully not enough to cause any flooding by you.

@RedShoe I hope your family is well and safe. It's so difficult when you can't physically be with your loved ones at times like this. Have you been able to communicate with them?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I've had family evacuated and moved to higher ground. I've got family flooded out. I've got family stuck at work because it's safer there than on the roads. It's scary watching all this knowing you've got loved ones in the middle of it all.

We certainly hope and pray for a safe outcome for your family. It's heart wrenching to see this tragedy unfold in the news. I can't imagine having to watch it though your eyes

 

[Norcalbaker59]

@Norcalbaker59 thank you for the well wishes, I'm not in the Texas area (I'm in Illinois) but I appreciate your thoughts I grew up in the Caribbean and experienced a few hurricanes and seen some of their destructive power first hand. I'm happy to hear your son and DIL are out of harm's way and do hope their friends are safe as well.

@ChesterV I'm glad to hear you're ok as well and that you've only gotten rain. Hopefully not enough to cause any flooding by you.

@RedShoe I hope your family is well and safe. It's so difficult when you can't physically be with your loved ones at times like this. Have you been able to communicate with them?

Oh, for some reason I thought you were in San Antonio! Nonetheless, warm wishes and thoughts for you

 

[RedShoe]

@Norcalbaker59 thank you for the well wishes, I'm not in the Texas area (I'm in Illinois) but I appreciate your thoughts I grew up in the Caribbean and experienced a few hurricanes and seen some of their destructive power first hand. I'm happy to hear your son and DIL are out of harm's way and do hope their friends are safe as well.

@ChesterV I'm glad to hear you're ok as well and that you've only gotten rain. Hopefully not enough to cause any flooding by you.

@RedShoe I hope your family is well and safe. It's so difficult when you can't physically be with your loved ones at times like this. Have you been able to communicate with them?

Several hundred of us are connected on Facebook through our family group page, so I get regular updates as folks can get to their devices. One of my elder cousins just posted this morning that the water was knee high IN HER LIVINGROOM and probably waist high in her garage, so she needs a rescue. If i could fly out there myself and go get them all, i would!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Several hundred of us are connected on Facebook through our family group page, so I get regular updates as folks can get to their devices. One of my elder cousins just posted this morning that the water was knee high IN HER LIVINGROOM and probably waist high in her garage, so she needs a rescue. If i could fly out there myself and go get them all, i would!

That's really very sad news. I hope she gets rescued soon. Does she have a two story house to at least get out of the water while she waits for rescue?

 

[RedShoe]

That's really very sad news. I hope she gets rescued soon. Does she have a two story house to at least get out of the water while she waits for rescue?

She posted about an hour ago that she's finally been rescued. pretty sure she's single story.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

She posted about an hour ago that she's finally been rescued. pretty sure she's single story.

That's wonderful news!!! I'm so happy to hear that she was rescued. I really can't understand why the government didn't evaluate before the storm. I was living in Houston for Rita and Ike. I understand evacuation has a lot of problems. There was a lot of public backlash over the evacuation orders. So the government is afraid to evacuate people because if it turns out the hurricane doesn't hit directly the public is outraged.

They should've conducted staggered evacuations. You evacuate by sector. They don't have to evacuate everyone all at once. With a hurricane there's enough warning that you can start moving people out well in advance. People may not be happy about it…but better people be angry about having to move to higher ground than to be caught and trapped in a flood.

 

[ChesterV]

It rained up here in DFW for a bit, and its been cloudy off and on, but other than that, nothing weather wise up around here.

And remember, its not just people savers out there looking for people..........

There are pet and animal organizations that come out and help with pets and people alike, but for some reason THEY never get any fanfare from the media.

As for wildlife, Im sure most of it is gone by now, along with any cattle ranches that were at sea level. No telling what type or how much wildlife has been destroyed.


Support the rescuers.


But the real need for support will be hospitals, nursing homes, shelters, hostiles, pet shops, pet care centers, animal hospitals, and animal shelters.

Don't just donate money.....it takes too much time to "go through the system" to be of any real use.

If you want to help, find some of these places that are taking in people and animals. Buy them food, water, medicines, towels, rags, and whatever else might be needed to help them out. Large bags of dog and cat food for pet shelters, animal hospitals that are helping out, and any other kind of pet rescue center that is in operation. Old blankets and towels also! (or new ones)

For people, same.......food, water, etc.... Packaged foods that can be easily opened and eaten is usually the biggest help.......stuff like canned soup, Chef Boy R Dee pastas, canned chili, canned fruits, etc.... BLANKETS, BLANKETS, BLANKETS!!!!! CLOTHES, CLOTHES, CLOTHES!!!!!!

Nursing homes will usually need adult diapers, paper towels, rubber gloves, personal cleansing supplies, clothes and blankets.


The best kinds of blankets are the lightweight personal blankets.
The best kinds of clothes that can be used are Tshirts, sweat shirts, sweat pants and the like.
Also, socks, shoes, and toiletries.


OMG!!!!! THE ZOO ANIMALS!!!!!!!
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...io-Zoo-Sea-World-sending-help-to-12154387.php

 

[Apocalypso]

I actually heard quite a bit about pets, but then again I'm tapped into a lot of local lost-and-found pet circles. One of the shelters (Volusia County) got in a load of pets from, I think, Louisiana, to make room there for pets separated from their owners due to Harvey. I think a lot of people thought they were Harvey rescues as they were snapped up quickly, and lots of people sending pet supplies. We've got truckloads of stuff being sent locally.