Thursday, September 22, 2005

How To Become A Victim

GALVESTON, Texas (Sept. 22) - More than 1.3 million residents in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to get out [of the path of Hurricane Rita, a monster storm with 170 mph winds].

The Category 5 storm weakened slightly Thursday morning, and forecasters said it could be down to a Category 3 -- meaning winds as high as 130 mph -- by the time it comes ashore late Friday or early Saturday.
[The U.S. mainland has never been hit by both a Category 4 and a Category 5 in the same season. Katrina at one point became a Category 5 storm, but weakened slightly to a Category 4 just before coming ashore.]

Forecasters predicted it would come ashore along the central Texas coast between Galveston and Corpus Christi, with up to 15 inches of rain in places. [...]

Galveston [is] already a virtual ghost town. [...]
The coastal city of 58,000 on an island 8 feet above sea level was nearly wiped off the map in 1900 when an unnamed hurricane killed between 6,000 and 12,000. It remains the nation's worst natural disaster.
City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the storm surge could reach 50 feet. Galveston is protected by a seawall that is only 17 feet tall.

Jennifer McDonald in Galveston planned to ride Rita out. She and her husband have enough food and water to last 10 days in their wooden house. If it gets really bad, the couple will take to the roof.
"If it goes, it goes," the 42-year-old nurse said of the house. "We're completely prepared."

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, The Associated Press.



Really.

You're prepared to deal with a fifty foot storm surge, while 130 MPH winds tear down your home ?

It's simply another way of saying "I'm prepared to meet my Maker", while rolling the dice.

1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Can you say "denial", boys and girls?

September 23, 2005 8:49 AM  

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