As predicted during the morning yesterday, the Houston metropolitan area was spared a direct hit from Hurricane Rita, which came onshore at about 2:30 a.m. this morning at Sabine Pass near the Texas-Louisiana border.
In The Woodlands, which is on the north side of the Houston metro area (pdf region map), the strongest winds — which were probably 40 – 50 mph steadily with gusts of 75 mph — occurred between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., and have decreased steadily since then. Rain has not been particularly heavy, and my home has had power throughout the storm, although there are wide areas of Houston and the north end that have lost power. Interstate 45 to the east of The Woodlands appears to be a rough demarcation line on the north end where the wind and rain have been worse on the east side of that line. The area between Huntsville and Livingston to the north has been getting hammered hard over the past couple of hours, and the East Texas area around Jasper (just north of Beaumont) is really bearing the brunt of the storm at this point.
Conditions will gradually improve over the next several hours and, by noon or so, we will be able to venture out safely and assess the damage. My sense is that the primary damage in this area will be relatively light wind damage caused by fallen tree limbs, roof damage, broken windows and the like. Frankly, I’m looking forward to venturing out into the weather today because one of the few fringe benefits of these storms is that they cool down the atmosphere greatly, which is much appreciated in these parts because we have been experiencing an excrutiatingly hot late summer — the high temperature was 95 degrees yesterday.
Finally, I want to pass along my heartfelt thanks for the dozens of phone calls, emails, blog comments, blog posts and the like over the past several days expressing concern and conveying goodwill and prayers for my family and me. The outpouring of concern has been greatly appreciated by my family and me, and we are humbled by the gracious expressions of support. Thank you all very, very much.
Houston's Clear Thinkers
Longtime Houston attorney Tom Kirkendall's observations on developments in law, business, medicine, culture, sports, and other matters of general interest to the Houston business, professional, and academic communities.
For once, sitting on my ass and smoking cigars worked out pretty well for me. And since my wife and her 91-year-old mother (who lives with us) had fortuitously gone to Dallas last Monday – and stayed there, avoiding the traffic jams – this has been like a mini-vacation for me.
You and I here in The Woodlands got unbelieveably lucky. It was amazing to realize every time I woke up last night that the ceiling fan (power!) was still going. No loss of dish TV, DSL, gas, water, electricity or phone. Yet just 3-5 miles away thousands are out of power and might not have theirs back for a week. I’m truly thankful.