Bloggin' With Bitchass

Ike... A View From The Crosshairs...Part I...

As Hurricane Ike gets closer and closer to Bitchassland, I'm taking a break from my preparations, and thought maybe now would be a good time to update everybody. I may not get a chance to later. This storm may not be as powerful as some have been, but it is huge, folks. As I write this, the wind has just now started to pick up and it's getting pretty breezy out there. The sun is still out but some clouds are starting to roll in. I'm not sure when I'll feel the first rain, but it's been dry so far.

I've been really fortunate for the past few years when it comes to tropical storms and hurricanes. There have been a few, including Rita, which were headed directly towards me but turned away at the last monent. It looks like I won't be as fortunate this time.

When I got up yesterday, Ike was tracking towards me and if the track held, the storm would pass almost directly over me, slightly to my west, which put me on the "dirty side" of the storm, which is where the worst conditions are usually found, including possible tornados. I got a little break yesterday when I found out that the storm track had shifted slightly to the east of me, which makes me feel slightly better because that puts me on the "clean side". But this storm is just so big that I'm in for a rough night tonight no matter what.

I got another little break in that Ike didn't strengthen much yesterday as it travelled across the Gulf of Mexico. As I write this, it's still a Category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph. I'm about an hour inland from Galveston, which seems to be Ike's latest target, so I will not get the storm surge or see wind speeds close to what Galveston will feel. But.... I'm still expecting winds of between 50-65 mph and they are predicted to last for almost 12 hours, because of the sheer size of the storm. Once it's here, all you can do is wait for it to pass through. Besides the wind, I will probably get a lot of rain, but I'm in an area that doesn't usually flood, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't this time either. My main concern is whether my roof and windows will stay intact.

I will most likely lose power at some point, and who knows how long it will be before it comes back on? I've been hearing stories that some places in other storms were without power for a couple of weeks. That would really suck, because if the power goes out to the water pumping facility that supplies me, I won't have any water until the power comes back on. I bought some water and also have some soda, whiskey, and beer, so I won't die from dehydration, but I may be drunk as a skunk when all is said and done.

This morning I made the last of the preparations that I could, and filled up my two huge trashcans with water so I could use a bucket of water to flush my toilet with if the water is off. I'll fill up my bathtub later tonight too. I've got a couple of Coleman lanterns, a couple of flashlights, a few extra batteries, and a bunch of candles, so at least I shouldn't be in the dark.

I could've done better preparations if I had put more thought into it, like I should've gotten more drinking water and batteries, and maybe another can of lantern fuel, but it's too late to worry about that now. It is what it is, and I'm as ready as I'm gonna be. All I can do now is to hope that everything will be OK.

I just remembered a few more things that I need to do, like trying to get a couple more trays of ice cubes made before tonight, so I'd better get back to it.

Thanks to all of my friends who have expressed their concern, because that really means a lot. And thanks to my weather expert sis Krissi for the great weather updates and assurances. If I can, I'll write more later tonight if I still have power. Hope to see you all later tonight, and maybe even be able to report that the storm turned away at the last moment. We can always hope, right?

Love you all!

little bitchass