A Storm's A Brewin' And Her Name Is Rita

After living in St. Louis for 23 years and never seeing the effects of a tornado first hand, moving down to Houston presented me with the opportunity to see what a hurricane was capable of. Looks like I'm going to get my wish. But the wish didn't involve a category 5 storm with the eye projected to pass right over me. I was looking more for a category 3 with the eye passing to the east. Now I'm nervous about the whole thing since I have no idea what to do, don't know what to expect, and that pretty much goes for everyone else in the house.
We've stocked up on water, some food, and batteries in case the power goes out but we have no idea what else to do. We've got a shit load of windows on the house and at this time I'm thinking all of the wood is gone from local hardware stores. Those with the foresight, or just scared from what happened with Katrina, went earlier in the week and probably cleared everything out. I know the bottled water supply was cleared out yesterday in many stores according to the news last night. The main thing we're making sure of is getting all the loose stuff in the garage or tied down so we can cut down on some of the projectiles possible. I just hope some of the construction crews do the same. There are still a number of houses being built around the neighborhood and last night on my walk with the dog I passed an entire dumpster filled to the brim with broken pieces of brick and mortar. All the pieces just the right size to be picked up into the air and shot through every piece of glass in the vicinity.
I was prepared to stick around because I had classes until Thursday evening and thought that by that time traffic trying to get out of here would be so bad that it would be a fruitless effort. Classes were, however, cancelled as of noon today so I don't have to worry about that anymore. At least this affords me some time to study for the tests that I would have had today and tomorrow. From what I've heard the roads are packed with people trying to get supplies and those that are getting the hell out of here. The local highway is posted as a "Hurricane Evacuation Route" so I'm thinking that it'll be like a parking lot out there soon if it isn't already.
I'll be posting more often over the next few days since I'll have some time with classes being canceled and all. I'm sure once the storm gets close the power will be out and will take a looooooooooooooooong time for it to come back. Any family or friends that are wondering about the wellbeing of the family will be able to reach us via cell phone. We might use them in shifts to conserve battery life since we won't be sure how long it'll be for the power to return if it goes out. We'll see how things go. The whole thing could take a radical turn and not even hit this area. Who knows? Weather people are wrong all the time.
Now, more than ever, do I wish that this house had a basement. There's really no room in the house that doesn't have at least one window, other than closets and one bathroom.