Rare but Dangerous Hurricane Injuries

One More . . . Another potential danger in Hurricanes:



~~JD~~

What I've Been Doing the Last Two-and-a-Half Weeks

Just for the record, I'm not a Baptist. I'm working with them beause they run the Special Needs Shelters:

Texas Baptists mobilize to meet Hurricane Ike
Contributed by John Hall, BGCT Communications; Published: September 11, 2008

As Hurricane Ike took aim at the Texas coast, Texas Baptists began mobilizing to meet the needs of people who might evacuate South Texas. At the request of the state, Baptist Child & Family Services opened shelters in the San Antonio area that can serve several thousand evacuees with special needs, such as basic medical care, support or attention. After sheltering about 300 medical special-needs evacuees from Hurricane Gustav, Baptist Child & Family Services personnel had little down time. Staff moved to a 24-hour operation mode to prepare for Hurricane Ike.

Twenty churches prepared to shelter evacuees at the request of BCFS. Corpus Christi officials called for the evacuation of all special-needs individuals from the area. Officials ordered the
mandatory evacuation of one ZIP code in Galveston-area Brazoria County. Some parts of Houston also were being evacuated.

Texas Baptist Men activated five teams. The East Texas-Smith Baptist Association Unit will serve in Bryan; the Bluebonnet Baptist Association Unit is serving in San Antonio and will be joined by the State Unit; the East Texas-Gregg Baptist Association Unit will serve in Longview; and another team of volunteers from around the state will serve in Laredo. In all, TBM was asked to prepare about 46,000 meals a day. Eight TBM shower units also are serving.

"Right now, things are going really well," Joe Detterman, who is helping coordinate TBM disaster
relief work, said. "We've had good response from our teams.

Baptist Child & Family Services and Texas Baptist Men both were active when Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana recently. BCFS housed nearly 300 people with special needs. "BCFS was given the role of caring for medical special needs evacuees in Texas because of our experience in caring for society's most vulnerable," BCFS spokesperson Haley Smith said. "We view this as just another opportunity to impact the world the world for Christ. We are so thankful for our partner churches who serve as shelters and make it possible for us to take on this role."

TBM provided nearly 25,000 meals for evacuees in Bryan, Lufkin, Marshall and Longview. An East Texas Baptist University gym was transformed into an 80-bed mobile hospital by the federal government. "Our university was pleased to host this operation,"; ETBU President Bob Riley said. "It gave our staff and students an opportunity to be a servant to our fellowman. Our staff rose to the occasion to assist these people in need. As a Christian university, we are pleased to help out."

To support Texas Baptist disaster relief, visit www.bgct.org or www.texasbaptistmen.org . Checks marked "Disaster relief" also can be sent to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227 or BGCT, P.O. Box 159007, Dallas 75315-9007.

As of Friday morning the BCFS is operating 15 Special Needs Shelters in San Antonio. "Special Needs" means anyone who needs more than a regualar shelter can proide -- medical, psychological, or otherwise. Evacuees are bussed into the former kelly Air Force Base (now called kelly City-Base) and sorted according to their needs. Pets are sent to a kennel, an families are kept toether as much as possible. Common-law families are the only instances I've seen so far where family members are separated; so it seems to pay to be married, and be able to prove it.


Compared to my regular job in the hospital, it's astonishingly easy work, but the time factor is what wears you down. I've worked 15 of the last 16 days before I took Friday off for sheer exhaustion. That's 12+ hour days; some of which were 16+ hour days.

"Volunteer Burn-Out" seems to be a common problem. The first week we saw a many as twenty volunteers a da signed up for shifts at the shelter, just in the Nursing Department. Friday morning when i left there were only five -- barely enough to cover the evacuees.

This weekend looks slightly bleaker. I'd be there if Ii wasn't already scheduled at the hospital. I'll be back Tuesday.

Right now they're talking about consolidating some of the shelters and closing the rest, but ours will probably stay open because of the range of services we provide. Very likely we'll be open through October.

Even if we don't get another hurricane.

~~JD~~

Living In The Cone Part XI: "Playing Flinch"

When I was in High School, some of the guys used to play a game called "Flinch." The idea was to punch your friend/victim on the arm as hard as you could; then do it agin, but pull your punch short so that you didn't actually hit them. If your friend/victim flinched when you struck, you got to hit them harder. If they didn't they got to hit you.

Adolescence and hormones breed idiocy; I know, I know . . .

Hurricne Ike is a Classic case of "Playing Flinch." Ike was aimed at the Corpus Christi to Victoria Texas areas, but 24 hours before landfall (when the shelters were crammed with Corpus Christi evacuees) the storm turned away and headed for the Houston/Galveston area instead. Consequently the shelters, still jammed with Corpus Christi evacuees, are still accepting Houston/Galveston evacuees because there's not enough vehicles to send the Corpus Christi people home.

This is not a FEMA problem. It's just that nobody has every imagined trying to evacuate three major urban areas at the same time. FEMA has done yeoman's work anticipating evauating for a single major hurricane. The ambulances that evacuated some of our guests came from Stockton California and Eureka Oregon.

So I'm working my butt off here. This is my seventh shift in a row; my tenth in eleven days. I' working 16 hours tonight because we're starting to run out of volunteers.

Loving it, too, by the way.

~~JD~~

Living In The Cone Part X: Ike's Slam

Ike decided to turn slightly north last night, which is not a good thing. While San Antonio is now out of the path of the storm, Houston is now in the crosshairs. Since the Corpus Christi coast (several hundred miles to the south) has alrady been evacuated, this presents a problem. Wher DO you send the Houston refugees now that the shelters are filling, and that you have less than 24 hours to do it in?


Actually, it now appears my old stomping grounds of Northwest Indiana may get more rain than I will. Heh.



Worked in a shelter last night with Corpus Christi refugees. While there was pitifully little to do, I did get to do some really good interviews with unsettled peaople, and solve a few sticky problems. Baptist Child and Family Services (BCFS) an Angel Staffing did their usual fantastic job, and FEMA continues to really impress me with their organization and initiative.

Really!


Nurses; Doing the paperwork that sends normal human beings into a death-like coma from sheer boredom.

Meanwhile, the countdown continues. More as it happens (or doesn't.) Im scheduled to work the shelter again Sunday, but that may be academic.

~~JD~~

~~JD~~

Living In The Cone Part IX: Ike's Shadow Looms Larger

Went out yesterday to get a few cases of water, just in case (pardon the pun.) I needn't have bothered. I go the last three cases of water in San Antonio, and had to go to three separate Wal-Marts to do it. People were stocking up on everything, and i do mean everything.





This is a typical San Antonio Sunrise; clear, bright, and gorgeous.





This is this morning's sunrise. It looks a lot like tornado weather in the Great Plains. The depression west of us in the Sonorra desert is meeting the feeder bands of Ike, with turbulent, ugly atmospheric consequences.





The Texas DOT activated the Evacuation plan along I-37 this morning at 7:00am. That means that all lanes from the coast at Corpus Christi to almost San Antonio (Pleasanton, to be exact) are running northward. While this helps ease the evacuation of the coast, this comes with small problem.





Current projection now have Ike veering northward away from Corpus Christi (which has a mandatory evacuation order in place) towards Houston (which has not begun to evacuate yet.) Add to this that Houston is a much larger Metro area with many more people than Corus Christi, and you now have the gargantuan task to stopping the Corpus evacuation in mid-flight, reversing that, and evacuating a much larger metro area -- all at the same time.

This could get really ugly really fast -- especially considering the northward turn of Ike is by no means certain. What if this turn is just a feint -- ad the storm re-turns to Corpus. Imgine the possibility for sheer chaos.

I'm really glad I'm not Governor Perry right now.




I have to say the state has respond magnificently to these one-after-another crises. Eacuation centers have been set up and, rather than simply shunting people willy-nilly into any available shelter, they are sorted by their needs into appropriate shelters. Care is taken to record each evacuee and attend to their medical o personal needs. FEMAis paying the volunteers this time, in order to guarantee they will show up, as well as to instill some continuity of care with staffing. Angel Staffing of San Antonio is managing the schedules of evacuees, and Baptist Child and Family Services is ensuring every evacuee gets what they need to make the time away from home bearable, if not completely comfortable.

We'll all live through this. We may not be comfortable, but we'll survive.

I'm working at a shelter tonight.

~~JD~~

Living In The Cone Part VIII: Head-Butting Ike

Here He Comes; Scheduled to pass about 30 miles east of San Antonio Saturday Morning with 150 mph winds.

Texas Begins Evacuating as Hurricane Ike Emerges Into Gulf
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

McALLEN, Texas — Some Texas residents who have special medical needs in the Corpus Christi area were being told to evacuate in advance of Hurricane Ike as it steams into the Gulf of Mexico.

To help these residents who need to get out of harm's way, Nueces County expected to set up two intake areas on Wednesday at 10 a.m. to take residents by bus to San Antonio. Meanwhile, Lt. Rhonda Lawson with the Texas Department of Public Safety in Corpus Christi said plans were in place to open up the evacuation route on Interstate 37 beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Texas emergency officials were taking no chances with the lives of its medically fragile citizens. Forecasters said Ike could hit on Saturday morning just about anywhere along the Texas coast, with the most likely spot close to the Corpus Christi area.

"For people designated as special medical needs who have a health condition that will require them to be out of harm's way ... we will assist them in boarding state furnished transportation and we'll assist them in getting to San Antonio," said Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal. He said the order is a voluntary evacuation. County officials have not ordered a full evacuation as they await updates on Hurricane Ike.
The American Red Cross, San Antonio chapter, said in a statement that its mobile and fixed feeding trucks were being moved into place to help evacuees. Opening up I-37 should facilitate smoother traffic flow, Lawson said.

"It gives people an extra lane of travel and it starts in Corpus Christi and it goes through San Antonio. Normally you have two lanes of travel going northbound and this gives a third lane of travel. Our troopers will be out monitoring the flow traffic to make sure no one breaks down," said Lawson.

Along with state troopers, more than 35 Corpus Christi police officers will help guide traffic along I-37, said Police Chief Bryan Smith in Wednesday's edition of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Texas officials were encouraging residents in the path of Hurricane Ike to do three things — listen to what local officials say, monitor weather reports and gas up, now.

"We have a fuel team that is part of the state operation system in Austin," said Allison Castle, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. "They are helping to push fuel to hurricane areas. One of the lessons we learned from past hurricanes is we need to have fuel ready," she said. Castle said the fuel team was working with a "private fuel partner" to ensure adequate fuel would be available along hurricane affected areas.

Still, Castle said if local officials order an evacuation, "the number one thing for residents is make sure they have a full tank of gas and prescriptions."

As Hurricane Ike heads toward the state, Texas emergency officials were preparing to order 1 million people be evacuated from the impoverished Rio Grande Valley. Emergency planning officials were meeting all day Tuesday to decide if and when to announce a mandatory evacuation for coastal counties close to the Mexican border.

Authorities lined up nearly 1,000 buses in case they are needed to move out the many poor and elderly people who have no cars.

"We have sent a number of them (buses) to Bee County, that way, should the locals decide to evacuate we will be ready to assist," Castle said.

On Tuesday, Ike roared across Cuba, ravaging homes, killing at least four people and forcing 1.2 million to evacuate.

Early Wednesday, Ike had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph, but was expected to strengthen. The storm was centered about 125 miles north of Cuba's western tip and moving west-northwest near 8 mph.
Perry declared 88 coastal counties disaster areas Monday to start the flow of state aid, and began preparing for an evacuation, lining up "buses rather than body bags."

The Dallas-Fort Worth area sheltered about 3,000 Hurricane Gustav evacuees last week and is prepared for up to about 20,000 people this time, said Steve Griggs, a county official. The downtown convention center would again serve as the main shelter.

Yes, yes -- I'm going to buy water. I'm also signed up already at one of the shelters.

Posting may be sporadic over the weekend. There's no guarantee of electricity in 135mph winds.

~JD~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part VI); September Landfall

The federal government has really taken the bull by the horns in these Gustav preparations. Stung by criticism that "Bush doesn't Care" and theat "the federal government didn't do enough" to prepare for Katrina (and most of these allegations made by the same idiots who had "hurricane parties" in their homes, then cried for federal aid) -- the Bush Administration has given Homeland Security and FEMA a much freer hand in making sure Katrina is not repeated again.

The result of this "freer hand" policy is that people are not being "suggested" to leave -- they're being told to do so. Hospitals are being required to stockpile several weeks of supplies and evacuate all patients possible before the storm hits.

And FEMA is not taking "no" for an answer. Be carefuls what you wish for -- you might end up getting it. From CNN.com:

Hospitals use lessons from Katrina to prep for Gustav

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Three years after Hurricane Katrina taught New Orleans' medical community some painful lessons, hospitals here are trying to learn from past mistakes.

Only the sickest patients will remain at New Orleans' Tulane Medical Center after ambulances carry the rest to the airport. Evacuations began early Sunday as a long line of ambulances took patients to the airport. From there, they were flown to hospitals outside the zone threatened by Gustav.

During Katrina, 1,600 people sheltered at the Tulane hospital. This time, only 450 patients, staff and family members are expected to remain. Patients are allowed one family member to stay with them.

"The lesson learned last time is, don't have lot of patients in your hospital unless it is absolutely necessary, and don't have too many staff," said Bob Lynch, the hospital's CEO. "A lot of planning, a lot of coordination has gone into the preparation for hurricanes after Katrina," Lynch said. "People really understand the need for being prepared down here." Lynch says his hospital prepared by bringing in a lot of supplies.

During Katrina, generators at some New Orleans hospitals were flooded after levees broke. Many hospitals didn't have enough fuel to run for more than a few days. Lynch said his downtown facility now has a generator system robust enough to power the entire building for three weeks, including the air conditioning. The generators are protected with a flood wall and a sump pump to remove any water that seeps in.

In 50 years, New Orleans Children's Hospital has locked its doors only once -- during Katrina. This time, the hospital plans to stay open regardless of what happens. Like Tulane, Children's has stockpiled three weeks' worth of supplies, food and fuel.

Eighty patients remain at New Orleans Children's Hospital, more than half of them in a critical care unit. Nurse Crystal Mayeaux says she will not leave them. "We are attached to all the babies here, she says. "They know us." Parents are allowed to stay with their children.

Tracy Bayley can't bear to tell her 4-year-old son Cameron about the hurricane that's on the way. The boy had open-heart surgery just 10 days ago.

"He knows there is a little storm coming, but as long as I am here, he's happy," she said.

And as I noted previously, they all appear to be flying to San Antonio. Lots of overtime for me!

~~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~~

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~~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part III); July is the Ugliest Month

Busy week around South Texas.

Dolly hit Category 2 just before she came ashore around Padre island, and just as the warmest part of the day was really ramping up. As a result, she cartwheeled from a low-grade Category 1 right up to a strengthening Category 2 very quickly -- so quickly, in fact, that the storm continued to strengthen briefly even after it was mostly ashore.


Even last night Dolly continued to maintain it's rotational momentum and spiral off lots of dense, dangerous thunderstorms, like the ones that hit San Antonio Thursday. A tornado breifly touched down on the near south side of San Antonio. Damage was limited to a few square blocks near the Patrician Movement Detox Center I used to work at a few years ago. Tornados are an oddity in South Texas; they mainly strike in north and east Texas and farther north, so this was quite a news event for San Antonio.

The gulf coast fared far worse, as these photos from an e-mail from an acquaintance show. Damage was much worse than expected, with one wag commenting :If this was a Category 1, then I never want to see a Category 2 or a Category 3!" Fishing and tourism will suffer the most, although major damage seems suprisingly light. The causeway to South Padre Island never closed except at the ehight of the storm, and re-opened immediatley afterwards. While many area of the Rio Grande valley remain without power, almost everyone has either water service or access to fresh water.


There are no reports of the damage to Mexico where the storm has burrowed deep into the Sonorran desert. Much like the old Soviet Union, the current Mexican administration is loathe to describe just how ineffective and powerless it is to provide relief to it's own beleaguered people.


Nevertheless, the people of Mexico continue to suffer from the inactivity of it's own government while America (and Americans) are busily involved in relief operations on both sides of the border.

So, we've been busy. how was your week? Obama been acclaimed king yet?

~~JD~~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part II); July is also the Wettest Month

Well, Dolly has come ashore, and as I expected, she hit just north of the Texas-Mexico border. She actually struck South Padre Island, then turned north for a bit, sideswiping the island full-force for a few hours before actually coming ashore on Padre Island to the north. Expect some severe damage to the tourist locales of South Padre.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see parts of either island disappear into the sea entirely.

The feeder bands of rain started hitting San Antone about 2pm. Right now it's a solid steel-grey sky with high humidity. The feeder bands are weird experiences to this midwestern-raised farm boy -- not at alllike the great majestic thunderstorms of the plains that lumber through majestically. The feeder bands rumble past, suddenly dropping huge drops of rain that hit with the force of golf balls. The cats and dog ran into the kitchen for shelter from the noise, which lasts all of five minutes, then stops as suddenly as it started.

Then we wait an hour or so for it to start again -- which I think it just did as I'm writing this. In the graphic accompanying this post, that upper-left corner of the tornado watch box is me in San Antonio. Lucky Me.

The storm is breaking down rapidly as it moves inland. Should it follow I-37 north from Corpus, the mass of rain will hit tonight and thoroughly soak our drought-striken pastures.

Which would be good. At any rate the agricultural Rio Grande valley, which rivals Florida and Southern California for it's produce and citrus, will get a ton of much-needed rain.

That's good too.

~~JD~~

Living in the Cone 2008 (Part I); July is the Windiest Month

Hurricane Season 2008 looks to be ramping up fast. Hurricane Dolly is the third "named" storm of the year, and it's only July. (Usually the season doesn't really get going good until August sometime.) So we're already geting the storm warnings and Weather Updates, and bottled water prices are slowly climbing upwards again. We're getting the highway warning signs as well, which are lots of fun to read on the way to work.



As of tonight the projections appear to place Dolly hitting somewhere near the Texas-Mexican border, and most weather-people projecting it will hit just the other side of the border. My guess is that this thing will go to ground on the Texas side of the border as the storm heads more northerly tonight (the winds skew north after sunset and blow north-northwest inland all night. When these inland night winds start blowing tonight, Dolly may well follow.) I'm betting somewhere between Corpus Christi and Victoria (more toward Corpus.)

I noticed on the way home that the usually coludless blue south Texas sky was full of big honkin' cumulonimbus clouds laden with storm water, as the first feeder bands from Dolly agitate the upper atmosphere into action.


Good. We needed the rain.


Meanwhile, Governor Perry has already alerted the National Guard, and every nurse and physician in South Texas has received this e-mail yesterday:

As Tropical Storm Dolly threatens to grow as a Hurricane towards to the Texas border we are encouraging our Nurses and CNA's to call our office and offer your assistance to help others. Additional deployment information will be available within the next 24-48hrs depending on weather.

All Angels will be compensated for their time and efforts at the following rates:

RN's $40/hr
LVN's $30/hr
CNA's $15/hr

Transportation and meals will be provided as well as hotel accommodations. All Angels will be required to bring the following for their personal use:

Sleeping Bag/Pillow
Towel/Soap
Weather appropriate clothing and comfortable footwear
Hat/Cap
Non perishable food/snacks
Drinking Water
Hand Sanitizer
Kleenex
Toilet Tissue
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Medications
Prescribed Eyeglasses/Hearing Aids

Please Contact:

Debbie or Ann Marie
210-616-9526

We truly look forward to helping others, together we can make a difference!

And this follow-up today:

Thank you to all the Angels who have responded in this time of need!

We have been informed that possible Deployment will occur Friday from the AT&T Center in San Antonio. More information will follow as it becomes available.

As Hurricane Season approaches we kindly remind you that even if there is no deloyment this time there may be some in the furture. Please look for updates from Angel Staffing as events occur. Please contact Debbie or Ann Marie at 210-616-9526 in order to be added to our list.

Gotta go buy bottled water . . . . and fill up my gas tank.

~~JD~~

"The buck slipped right past him"

Well, it appears one unanswered question from Hurricane Katrina is being answered finally: Why Did The Pumps Fail?

Because this idiot evacuated the Pump Operators!

La. parish president still facing lawsuits over Katrina
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

METAIRIE, La. - On the eve of Hurricane Katrina, massive pumps that keep water out of this New Orleans suburb went silent when the roughly 100 workers who run them were allowed to flee under a "doomsday" evacuation plan. With the storm raging, backflow from levee breaks in New Orleans had nowhere to go, damaging thousands of homes, shopping malls and businesses between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish.

For parish President Aaron Broussard, a populist Democrat who rose to power over three decades, the evacuation of the workers could be make-or-break politically and legally.

After the storm, parish residents along the lake's east bank dried out and scraped the muck from their middle class and upscale homes. Then they went to court against Broussard, with a judge recently refusing to dismiss him from lawsuits that hold him personally responsible.

At first, Broussard publicly accepted responsibility for the evacuation decision in August 2005. But about a month after the election, he swore under oath in lawsuit depositions that he didn't know of the doomsday evacuation plan before Katrina, saying he learned the pump operators had gone only after the fact. "He's changing his story to fit the legal situation," said Debbie Settoon, a civil engineer and president of the civic group Citizens for a Safer Jefferson.

In refusing to dismiss Broussard, state District Judge John Peytavin cited "unanswered" questions posed by storm victims' lawyers during a November deposition.

"Would you have agreed with that decision?" attorney Darleen Jacobs asked Broussard at that session.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Could you, as parish president, have vetoed the decision to remove the pump operators?" Jacobs asked.

"I don't know the answer to that," Broussard said.

Reading accounts of Broussard's sworn statements reminded Settoon of a placard in Broussard's office: "The Buck Stops Here." "The buck slipped right past him," she said.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast: September 28th, 2007

Appetizer: How are you today?

How am I What??? How am I getting to work?-- Driving. How am I eating breakfast -- with a spoon. How am I feeling -- with my fingertips, of course. Be specific.

Soup: Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.

Anything that starts with the letters "CSI" or that's on the Discovery Channels. I truly may be Gil Grissom in real life without the encyclopedic knowledge of bugs.

Salad: What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?

Watching Hurricane Katrina sit just off the coast before it hit New Orleans two years ago. The storm was so big we could sit here and watch the cloud wall rotate all the way here in San Antone.

Main Course: If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?

Sitting at the Carlsberg Bar about three blocks south of De Brouckere plaza in Brussell, Belgium with a sandwich and a nice, cold Elephant beer; watching the tourists go by. Brussells is where I met my wife, and my in-laws still live there. I plan to do that again real sooon in the near future, too.

Dessert: What do you usually wear to sleep?

It's 5:30 am; I'm wearing it now! Grey sweatpants, T-shirt, and flip-flops. Invariably, day-in-day-out.

~~JD~~

I Hate It When I'm Right . . . .

Humberto graduated to Hurricane Status overnight (literally!) and came ashore with 80+ knot winds this morning.

Lovely!

Well, Alabama / Georgia / Mississippi could use the rain, I'm sure.

See why I keep a case of bottled water in the car this time of year? Yesterday morning when we were talking about this it was just a Tropical Depression, let alone a full-fledge Hurricane . . .

~~JD~~

Hurricane Season 2007 Continues: Humberto

Fortunately, it's headed for Galveston and Houston areas, which haven't had as much of the soaking rains that North Texas has had lately.

But I'm glad I didn't wash my car, nevertheless.

My guess; we'll have 6 inches of rain here by this time tomorrow.

~~JD~~

Hurricane Felix Update

Yup, turning North -- just like I thought. here we go . . .



UPDATE (4:30 pm): I gotta go buy some bottled water.



UPDATE (5:45 pm): The sun has clouded over, the wind has picked up from the Southeast, and big fat drops of rain are falling. The rain bands being thrown off by this thing are enormous!

~~JD~~