I Hate Being Right

still here. no power, but cell is still working. rain is pretty much gone, but still pretty windy. no visible damage near the hotel that i can see. hopefully the linemen can get the power back on before it gets hot again. oh well it could be worse.

Here are the thoughts I penned during the blackout:

Sitting in the dark at 0430 hoping that the power might come back before the room heats up too much. Listening to the radio. Sounds like we lost power about 0200. That's probably correct given the temperature of the coffee I was ablr to coax out of the Bunn this morning.

I hate being right all the time. This storm damage will be more widespread than the last one. The drainange ditch behind the hotel, which is about 5' deep and was barely filled during the last storm is FULL right now. It's hard to tell because it's rather dark; but if that's not standing water I'm impressed at the volume.

Still pretty windy if the rain has stopped. Waiting for a new day so I can get a better idea of what's happening.

THe radio people are saying that there's a lot of crap left. It would be better if I had lights.

I'm interested to see what Galveston and Houston got. It sounds like Beaumont is going to get the worst of it. No one on the radio is saying exactly where the storm came on shore because they were so wrong for so long. (Sounds like a country song.) I think I hit it right on the head. Port Arthur, TX is the landfall. Sp far we still have running water. Hopefully thath stays so the toilets keep functioning. Worst case, I'll go to work.

0500 now and a little lightning outside.

0540. I must've woken up right after the storm line that took out the power rolled through. The ditch behind the hotel is down a lot right now. Probably only a foot or so deep. That was an enormous amount of water. Wow. The radio is still saying that another band is coming. Yippee. I said that this one was going to be worse.

I'm now hearing that the people returning to New Orleans need tetanus, Hep A&B, and the Flu vaccines.

I wish I knew the state and parishes better. It's hard to get a good idea of where these radio guys are talking about. Oh well. I've got bread, peanut butter, soda, water, & beer. It may not be cold for long, but hopefully, since we're on the main drag of town, we'll have power restored before too long. I'm going to sit tight. The doors of the hotel only have those card readers for locks so if the batteries die, I can't get into the room. That would suck.

0600 No visible damage outside the hotel. Not even raining right now. Just maybe some 30 mph gusts. Some places with generators have lights but it looks like the east side of town may have power so who knows. Maybe they can get us back in a day or so.

Listening to the radio and the top-of-the-hour news is funny. Still yapping about W shirking his duty.

It's a little strange walking around using my cellular phone as a flashlight. Guess I should've bought one of those. Day-break will be nice. It's hard to write in the dark.

0630 and I'm starting to see the sunrise. I ca actually see what I'm writing now. All the schmucks are waking up now and calling the radio station. The ditch behind the hotel is basically dry. That was a huge amount of water.

Ambulance just went by with the lights on. Still pretty dry here, just a bit breezy. I wonder when the next splashdown will show up?

I think I can see that the stop light about 1/2 mile from the hotel is operating. Maybe we'll get lucky.

Or maybe not. Might be a cop's lights. It's starting to rain again. Bands of sheets thath I can see.

Now it's clear again.

Yeah. It's a cop. Must be directing traffic at the town's major intersection to keep the shitheads from running it.

Another ambulance just went by. It's now 0650 and much lighter outside. I'd like to take a walk into town, but I don't know when the next splash will show up.

Maybe I'll try a phone call a bit late. I'm not holding my breath that I'll have any communications anytime soon given my experience from the last storm.

Sounds bad for the Lake Charles casinos. One is missing and several others are loose and heading toward bridges. I didn't think that I'd ever hear about people losing a casino.

Well. The cell phone still works. That's pleasant.

Yay! 0822 and the power is back Hopefully it stays!