Being told to "HUNKER" down

Info I found on the Weather Channel website:

Texas prepares for a gigantic Hurricane Ike
By MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press WriterThursday, September 11, 2008


HOUSTON -- Cars and trucks streamed inland and chemical companies buttoned up their plants Thursday as a gigantic Hurricane Ike took aim at the heart of the U.S. refining industry and threatened to send a wall of water crashing toward Houston.

Nearly 1 million people along the Texas coast were ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm, which was expected to strike late Friday or early Saturday. But in a calculated risk aimed at avoiding total gridlock, authorities told most people in the nation's fourth-largest city to just hunker down.

Ike was steering almost directly for Galveston and, beyond that, Houston, where gleaming skyscrapers, the nation's biggest refinery and NASA's Johnson Space Center lie in areas vulnerable to wind and floodwaters. Forecasters said the storm was likely to come ashore as a Category 3, with winds up to 130 mph.

But the storm was so big, it could inflict a punishing blow even in those areas that do not get a direct hit. Forecasters warned that because of Ike's size and the state's shallow coastal waters, it could produce a surge, or wall of water, 20 feet high, and waves of perhaps 50 feet. It could also dump 10 inches or more of rain.

"It's a big storm," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said. "I cannot overemphasize the danger that is facing us. It's going to do some substantial damage. It's going to knock out power. It's going to cause massive flooding."

Most of the evacuations were limited to sections of Harris County outside Houston, as well as nearby bayous and Galveston Bay. But the 2 million residents of the city itself and 1 million in other areas of the county were asked to remain at home.

"We are still saying: Please shelter in place, or to use the Texas expression, hunker down," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county's chief administrator. "For the vast majority of people who live in our area, stay where you are. The winds will blow and they'll howl and we'll get a lot of rain, but if you lose power and need to leave, you can do that later."



So that is that! We are staying put as told by our government officials! I hope they know what they are talking about! I hope we will all be okay after "HUNKERING" down?!?! I'm sure yall are ready for Ike to come and go so I will stop doing blog post about him! Sorry! I just want to document this bad boy! Bare with me!

Mr. "S" mom called to check in! She is really worried about us! They just don't deal with storms like this in Ohio! She said if we don't call or if we don't answer our phones on Saturday she is sending the National Guard to come knock on our doors! =)

I've got my camera charging! I will try and take pics (in hope they turn out)!



In other world news today (as if there is anything else going on out there other than Ike) is a day I will never forget ~ 9/11! One of my blog buds La Vie De Laurie did a short little post talking about 9/11 ~ Never Forget 9/11! I left here this comment:

"I’m like you! I will NEVER forget! I will never forget what I saw on TV, heard on the radio or looked at on the computer! All the sad emails and videos…over and over and over again! I will always remember where I was that day and what I was doing! It was nothing special…I wouldn’t have remembered that day for any other reason!!!!! I was at work, it was a normal day! Then I get a phone call from a co-worker telling me to turn on the radio! She goes on to tell me what she is watching on TV. I was in total shock! I think I just sat there in disbelief! This couldn’t be real! This couldn't be happening in the USA! Our home, Our Country!"

I hope this is something that our government can prevent from every happening again!