So, we're hunkering down in our house from the effects of Tropical Storm Edouard!!! Actually, Lauren or Josh's whirling dervish behavior has more effect on us than this storm has. We've had a good amount of rain, but we've needed it desperately. There's been hardly any wind, no lightening, no thunder, no tornadoes and so, as Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing".
Starting Sunday night, the 3 main Houston TV channels have bombarded us with what to expect for the upcoming storm. Everyone started gathering their batteries, canned food, drinking water and filling up their cars with gas in preparation. In fact, Rick and I filled up our cars on Sunday night around midnight because we knew there would be a mad dash as the gas pumps on Monday morning. People here have a touch of post traumatic stress disorder when it comes to storms in the Gulf of Mexico. First we had Hurricane Katrena back in 2005, which didn't hit Houston but had a huge impact as thousands of people came here after the storm hit New Orleans. Then, just a few weeks after that, Hurricane Rita was heading straight for Houston. We evacuated because Rick had to be in a place that had power so he could continue to do his public relations and emergency management thing for his company. I remember driving in the middle of the night to my mother-in-law's home in Tyler (usually a 3.5 hour drive, took us over 6) and listening to the radio coverage of the storm. At one point the storm was so strong it would have been a category 7 if the scale went that high. Fortunately, it did lose strength before making landfall to the east of Houston, so the city had hardly any damage at all.
So, now we've had another storm that people prepared for and there's been hardly a gust of wind. It was funny watching the news this morning because you see reporters doing live shots from outside, trying to make a bigger deal of the storm than there actually was. At one point, one guy talked about being in a torrential downpour but he must have forgotten that he was outside and we could easily see that it was barely raining. I know, I know - that's the only stories they prepared for and had 8 hours of coverage to fill!! With Rick having been in the TV reporting business years ago, he watched all of this coverage with a giant smirk on his face. Yup, his sarcasm was in rare form before he stopped himself, knowing that his audience of one (that would be me) was not amused!
It does kind of make me feel silly to prepare, buy canned goods that we don't normally buy (I only bought 3 cans of spaghetti-O's, not dozens, but they're already gone), get the flash lights ready, etc. to just have a nice, gentle rain for most of the day. Most people stayed home from work, many businesses closed for the day and I would bet that there are a few gas stations that have been pumped dry. It feels like the meteorologists' reports, exacerbated by the media, are crying wolf a bit, and I think that will make people less likely to respond the next time.
Maybe God sees our hectic, busy lives and thinks we all needed a day off. Who knows. Oh well, off to have dinner. Canned tuna, anyone?
Starting Sunday night, the 3 main Houston TV channels have bombarded us with what to expect for the upcoming storm. Everyone started gathering their batteries, canned food, drinking water and filling up their cars with gas in preparation. In fact, Rick and I filled up our cars on Sunday night around midnight because we knew there would be a mad dash as the gas pumps on Monday morning. People here have a touch of post traumatic stress disorder when it comes to storms in the Gulf of Mexico. First we had Hurricane Katrena back in 2005, which didn't hit Houston but had a huge impact as thousands of people came here after the storm hit New Orleans. Then, just a few weeks after that, Hurricane Rita was heading straight for Houston. We evacuated because Rick had to be in a place that had power so he could continue to do his public relations and emergency management thing for his company. I remember driving in the middle of the night to my mother-in-law's home in Tyler (usually a 3.5 hour drive, took us over 6) and listening to the radio coverage of the storm. At one point the storm was so strong it would have been a category 7 if the scale went that high. Fortunately, it did lose strength before making landfall to the east of Houston, so the city had hardly any damage at all.
So, now we've had another storm that people prepared for and there's been hardly a gust of wind. It was funny watching the news this morning because you see reporters doing live shots from outside, trying to make a bigger deal of the storm than there actually was. At one point, one guy talked about being in a torrential downpour but he must have forgotten that he was outside and we could easily see that it was barely raining. I know, I know - that's the only stories they prepared for and had 8 hours of coverage to fill!! With Rick having been in the TV reporting business years ago, he watched all of this coverage with a giant smirk on his face. Yup, his sarcasm was in rare form before he stopped himself, knowing that his audience of one (that would be me) was not amused!
It does kind of make me feel silly to prepare, buy canned goods that we don't normally buy (I only bought 3 cans of spaghetti-O's, not dozens, but they're already gone), get the flash lights ready, etc. to just have a nice, gentle rain for most of the day. Most people stayed home from work, many businesses closed for the day and I would bet that there are a few gas stations that have been pumped dry. It feels like the meteorologists' reports, exacerbated by the media, are crying wolf a bit, and I think that will make people less likely to respond the next time.
Maybe God sees our hectic, busy lives and thinks we all needed a day off. Who knows. Oh well, off to have dinner. Canned tuna, anyone?
I bought a bunch of cans of soup. We should have a potluck with our rations!
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