One Year Ago Today; Just About Now . . . .

If you don't have any idea what I'm referring to, you can read about it HERE.

Yes, that's me in the hat.

Good night, Dad.

~~JD~~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part VI): September is the Disastrous Month

By 5:oo pm Saturday the aircraft had started to arrive in San Antonio. The skies were alight with Medevac helicopters shuttling patients from the airport to hospitals all over the San Antonio area all night and all morning.



FEMA had learned her lessons well from Katrina. Plans had been laid well in advance for possible hurricane strike areas and how to evacuate them prior to landfall of any hurricane. When Hurricane Gustav first began to look like he would make landfall in the Gulf Coast, FEMA had already activated National Guard Units and Federalized aircraft under the Civilian Air Board to transport hospital patients from threatened areas to designated evacuation zones.



San Antonio is the Evacuation zone for Beaumont and Victoria, Texas. (An Air Force C-9 Nightingale medical evacuation plane flew overhead as I wrote that. It was followed by a C-130 cargo plane.)



By 7:00 pm last night three fully-loaded medical transport planes had arrived in San Antonio, evacuating Nursing Home residents and hospital patients. By 9:00 pm most of the Emergency Rooms in San Antonio were closed to admissions from the onslaught of admissions. At 11:00 pm my own hospital began to plan to block off the street in front of the hospital to put a a massive circus-sized tent to triage the evacuees expected for Sunday and Monday.



By 1:00 am almost all of the ER's in San Antonio were closed to new admissions. By 2:00 am FEMA had politely informed them that they were open for business, and to get to work. I admitted people to my little Med-Surg unit all night long until we were packed to the gills.



At 5:00 am Sunday (today) they began the "contra-flow" operations on select Interstate highways leading away from the coast. During Hurricane Katrina this meant that I-10 flowed two sides both pointing towards San Antonio from New Orleans all the way back here. I don't know if that means the same this time, but I doubt it. During Katrina it was more reactionary response, while Gustav's FEMA plan is carefully considered.



But there's a lot of damned cars on the road -- and they're not looking for a Labor Day cookout.



By noon Saturday even Mayor Ray "Chocolate City" Nagin of new Orleans had caught the FEMA fever, and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city. Buses that had stood silent during Katrina were fueled and ready to move everyone and anyone out of the city, along with their family, friends, and pets. I watched the Homeland Security director Micheal Chertoff on Fox News last night lay out a very clear, thin line: Areas under mandatory evacuation are also as of now under curfew. Once the storm winds come up, there is no further possibility of evacuation.

And time is running out -- fast. Get out, and Get out Now.



Hotels are filling up fast in San Antone. Our church this morning had an almost overflow crowd -- easily twice the crowd from the last time we attended. The worshipers seemed happy to be there, and there was a lot of "Nice to Meet You!" greeting going on, but there was a distinct unease in the air. It was the unease of uncertainty of the future, and the hope of better days to come; but mixed in was a double shot of pragmatism from Katrina's fury.


It's an eerie feeling to know that those electronic highway signs advertising "Hurricane Shelter Directions" are talking to YOU.


The foreboding is not limited to the evacuees. Edouard's grand tour of Florida had the unexpected side effect of temporarily reversing the normally clockwise Gulf weather patterns, showering South Texas with a bounty of rain the last 10 days. The ground currently is almost saturated. Gustav could make that much, much worse very, very quickly.


I watched the thunderheads march northward towards Austin and Dallas last night, silhouetted by the dying setting sun. Their dark purple bases made them look almost royal, and dignified. None dared challenge their power, or right to do as they please to us mere mortals. Their pink tops caught the last light of the sunset, making them look like curious giraffes, peering towards the north.


Right now they scare the hell out of me, pretty or not.

~~JD~~

Saturday Morning Gustav Sunrise

The cloudless skies of South Texas start to cloud up. . . .

~~JD~~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part V); Katrina is the Worst Possibility

(Sigh) . . . . It's Hurricane season in the Gulf, again. I may have mentioned this before, so if I have, bear with me. I once read somewhere that German U-boat commanders avoided the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea areas in World War II, despite the obvious strategic value of hitting the unprotected southern coast, was because the hurricane seasons were so violent in the late 30's and early 40's that U-boat skippers were terrified of surfacing in a hurricane and killing everyone aboard.

Looks like we're getting back into one of those violent cycles again.

Hurricane Gustav has had his way re-destroying the islands of Jamaica and Haiti that were previously destroyed earlier this season and last year, and the year beofre; but since they don't believe in building codes or governmental disaster assistance, the poverty-stricken residents are left to their own devices to try to rebuild their shattered lives. Again.

Fortunately for us, we have a lot more planning in place, and care what happens to our people, as evidenced by San Antonio's KSAT:

Perry Issues Disaster Declaration For Gustav
5,000 Guardsmen On Standby
UPDATED: 2:10 pm CDT August 28, 2008

BEAUMONT, Texas -- Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration on Thursday for 61 counties as Texas prepares for a possible brush with Tropical Storm Gustav. Perry said that more than 5,000 guardsmen and other state resources are on standby in case the storm comes ashore along the Texas Coast.

Forecasters said that Gustav, which has winds approaching hurricane force, could make landfall Tuesday anywhere from Texas to the Florida Panhandle.

In Beaumont, some residents were already preparing by filling up their tanks and stocking their pantries. In Tyler, tourism officials say that most of the 2,200 hotel rooms in the East Texas city are full as Gulf Coast residents make plans to head north.

And then this popped up in my e-mail today (since I'm a nurse and a orevious Katrina volunteer, I get them first):

A N G E L V O L U N T E E R S N E E D E D

We are seeking Volunteers for San Antonio based shelters. Please contact us immediately to add you to our list in order to assist others seeking relief from Hurricane Gustav.

* * * * * *
If the State of Texas should declare this to be a Natural Disaster, we will be searching and reimbursing for assistance to deploy for approximately 7 days. We will provide you with a list of necessities you will be required to bring. All accomodations will be provided. If deployment is necessary we will be expected to depart Saturday.

Further details will follow as information becomes available.

* * * * * *

Please call our office Angel Staffing, Inc - 210-616-9526

or

Contact Shannon at shannon@angelstaffing.net 210-854-7656
or Jennifer at jennifer@angelstaffing.net 210-854-8928.

Together we can make a difference!

This one is more than a little scary. We've had rain on-and-off for two weeks which is more a winter weather pattern than a summer one. As such, the ground is close to saturated already, and Hurricane Edouard's corkscrew path up and around Florida has reversed the normal clockwise weather pattern flow around the gulf coast, which will draw Gustav towards Texas like a magnet draws a compass needle.

I'm going to buy a couple of cases of water right now.

~~JD~~

Another Reason Washington DC is Not Like The Rest Of The World

Actual road sign from Washington DC:


It's 3:59 pm; do you know what lane you're in?

~~JD~~

Wednesday Morning San Antonio Health Clinic

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part IV); August is the Speediest Month

Eduoard made landfall about 4 hours earlier than estimated and as only a Tropical Storm instead of getting to hurricane status (thank goodness!); and despite the meteorological projection tracks that keep taking it towards Austin and the north Texas area, it seems determined to make a beeline towards San Antonio. I'm sure it will turn at some point eventually.


Meanwhile, I'm out buying water and flashlights later this morning.


Just in case, you understand. It would be silly to wait for lines to form like last time.

Meanwhile, it seems that a tornado hit Chicago last night; if not a good handful of microbursts. From CBS 2 Chicago:

Tornadic Storm Clears Wrigley Field, Brings Havoc

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A powerful storm led to tornado warnings in downtown Chicago, evacuated fans from the stands at Wrigley Field on Monday night, and left a path of damage and an atmosphere of panic. Storms continued throughout the night, and were not over Tuesday morning.

The skies were dark and treacherous for much of the game between the Cubs and the Houston Astros. The telecast of the game was interrupted for an Emergency Alert System broadcast announcing a tornado warning for areas west of Chicago. Soon afterward, rain interrupted the game.

As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, at about 8:10 p.m., winds that seemed near gale force began raking the area and the air raid siren that stands sentinel outside Wrigley Field began howling, along with all the others in the city. A voice over the public address system ordered everyone to move into the stadium concourse.

"They told you to get out, down to the concourse, because of bad weather," said Ron Swanson. "A lot of games out here and I've never heard that before; I've never heard that boomer go out across the street." Several small children and more than a few adults were terrified.

The National Weather Service did not immediately confirm any tornado touchdowns. But it said trained spotters reported high-rotation winds in DeKalb and Kane counties in northeastern Illinois, where widespread tree and power line damage was reported. Winds clocked in at 70 mph.

Passengers at O'Hare International Airport were evacuated into the lower levels of the complex's buildings. All flights were temporarily halted, and travelers who had already boarded airplanes were taken off as the storm struck, then led to the lower levels as a precaution. "It was pretty cramped down there, the whole terminal was down there," said George Wickens, 50, of London, who was trying to travel to Florida with his family. "I don't think anything will be getting out of Chicago tonight." More than 350 flights were canceled at O'Hare Monday.

Planes were flying again Tuesday morning. One hundred flights were canceled at O'Hare, and minor delays were reported as of 11 a.m. At Midway Tuesday morning there were a few one-hour delays and some cancellations, according to Cunningham.

"The wind picked up and in probably five seconds it blew (my friend) into her husband," she said. "He grabbed her and pulled her inside and we all ran down the stairs. It was like dead still and then within five seconds, ten seconds we were all blown away."

"The lightning between the buildings was looking ominous," said Michaela Nelson, a 58-year-old singer from Barrington, brushing her dripping-wet hair at the station. "And then it just poured."

As of 10:30 a.m., 219,000 Commonwealth Edison customers are without electricity, the majority of whom are in the city and the southern suburbs, according to ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick. A total of about 427,000 customers were affected since the storms started. The outages will likely take days to fix, Marquez said.

"At this point, we're still saying it's a multiple-day restoration. We're asking a lot of our customers to be patient as we work on clearing all the damage and restoring power," Marquez said. "We'll get a better idea as work goes throughout the day on the extent of damage, and then have a better idea on when the last customer will be restored."

In the Logan Square neighborhood, a man was left in critical condition after he was hit by a falling tree. He was near his home in the 2100 block of North Whipple Street when the tornado warning sirens sounded. High winds and lightning moved in and sent a tree crashing on top of him. On the Northwest Side, a huge tree was uprooted and tore up the sidewalk on top of the roots. The homeowner could not believe what happened, and suspected a tornado might have hit.

A total of 1,438 trees were toppled or damaged in the storm throughout the city. A total of 158 traffic signals were knocked out, 69 city light poles were damaged, and 112 wires to city light poles snapped, according to the city Department of Streets and Sanitation. There were also 212 blocks where all of the street lights were out, according to the department.

On the roadways at 1 a.m., a backed up sewer added to the problems on the inbound and outbound Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94) between 83rd and 87th Streets on the South Side, according to Illinois State Police District Chicago Sgt. Michelle Tufenkjian.

Well, the good thing about hurricanes is at least we get a little warning.

Water. Flashlights. Gotta go.

~~JD~~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part IV); August is the Ugliest Month

Eduoardo is on the way.

This one popped up during the day Sunday while I was sleeping off night shift at the hospital. When I went to bed, nothing -- but when ai woke up, full fledged Tropical Storm with winds approaching 30 mph. Today it's 45 mph sustained winds and headed straight for Houston Bay (and Galveston, which is an island, I might add) and thereafter cutting a swath between Austin to the north and San Antone to the south.

In other words, the closest any hurricane has come to us since we moved here six years ago.

I'm going out to buy bottled water and flashlights tonight.

~~JD~~