Rita Watch: Advisory 7



The Texas Department of Transportation has opened up both sides of almost all highways out of Houston and Beaumont to outbound traffic. Even with that it's still taking people 10 to 12 hours to travel what would normally be a 2-3 hour trip. Tanker trucks are delivering gasoline to people who've run out of gas on the highway. I've heard stories that people are turning off their engines and pushing their cars to save gas. The traffic is so slow that they only have to push the car 2 or 3 feet (about 0.5 to 0.75 meters) at a time. Hell of a way to get outta Dodge!


Traffic in the Capital City is heavier than normal, but I got home after work at about the regular time. I spent almost all day writing up and/or editing training for Hurricane Rita disaster claims. Our Tele-Centers are giving the training in sort of small groups. So, we're busy trying to come up with the next needed thing before they get through delivering the most recent needed thing. I think the new word for that is just-in-time delivery.

My boss's boss, let's call him Bob, was on a conference in his office with our Network Coordinator, let's call him Ernie, when he had to take another call at his secretary's cubicle. That call turned into a conference call too! So, he's standing in the cube with another person, let's call her Pat, talking on the speakerphone, while the other conference call with Ernie continues in his office. Things have gotten a little out of hand.

I learned on the way home that Rita has taken a turn toward the east, and is probably going to have landfall closer to Beaumont/Port Arthur than Galveston. The Goddess figured that her sister, the husband and the four dogs wouldn't come. They called about 6:45 tonight to say that they're leaving Houston at 2:00 am tomorrow morning and will be here when they can get here. We don't know when to expect them with all the reports of heavy, heavy traffic.