Rita Update - Generator Shortages

This seems to be the page that people using search engines to find Hurricane Rita news are entering on. I urge you to also look at the main page for further Rita updates. Cernig, 23rd Sept.

The MSNBC "Citizen Journalist" page has local reports that shortages of gas, water, boarding sheets and in particular electric generators are becoming widespread already.

I have searched all over Texas for portable generators. Everyone is out, and they are saying they have them on order but don't know when they will be in. From Dallas to Corpus Christi to Beaumont, Texas, everyone's out. One Home Depot lady said their shipments of generators have been re-routed to Louisiana for the Katrina disaster. Everything is going quick, water, gas cans, food. We saw what happened in New Orleans, and nobody is taking any chances. When will it end? We'll pray!
--Knowland Yee, Houston, Texas

Meanwhile, here's the latest advisory for Corpus Christi. The hurricane looks like it is headed for near Galveston but if it doesn't turn quite as fast as expected and hits Corpus then San Antonio is in for a bettering too - in which case large chunks of the city and its surroundings will flood.

.EVACUATION INFORMATION...

FOR NUECES COUNTY...THE MAYOR OF PORT ARANSAS HAS ISSUED A
MANDATORY EVACUATION OF PORT ARANSAS FOR NOON TODAY. A DECISION
FOR THE REST OF NUECES COUNTY WILL BE MADE BY THIS AFTERNOON.

FOR CALHOUN COUNTY...A MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER HAS BEEN
ISSUED FOR THE COUNTY EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

FOR REFUGIO AND ARANSAS COUNTIES...A MANDATORY EVACUATION
ORDER WILL BE IN EFFECT AT 3 PM CDT.

FOR SAN PATRICIO COUNTY...A MANDATORY EVACUATION WILL BE
IN EFFECT AT 2 PM CDT.

FOR KLEBERG COUNTY...A MANDATORY EVACUATION IS CURRENTLY BEING
IMPLEMENTED FOR THE PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE. THE PARK
WILL BE CLOSED ON THURSDAY.

ALL RESIDENTS OF THE MIDDLE TEXAS COAST SHOULD BE IN THE
PROCESS OF COMPLETING THEIR PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS TO PROTECT
LIFE AND PROPERTY.


...STORM SURGE FLOOD AND STORM TIDE IMPACTS...
TIDE LEVELS ARE CURRENTLY NEAR NORMAL ALONG THE MIDDLE TEXAS
COAST. HIGH SWELLS FROM HURRICANE RITA WILL AFFECT THE COAST BY
THURSDAY. TIDE LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 3 FEET ABOVE
MEAN SEA LEVEL ALONG AREA BEACHES DURING THE DAY THURSDAY. THIS
WILL CAUSE WATER TO FLOOD BEACHES AND BEACH ACCESS ROADS. IN
ADDITION...HIGH SWELLS WILL PRODUCE A GREATER RISK OF DANGEROUS
RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA BEACHES AND SWIMMING IS NOT RECOMMENDED
AFTER TODAY.

MORE SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING IS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT AND
SATURDAY MORNING AS WATER LEVELS CONTINUE TO RISE AS HURRICANE RITA
APPROACHES.

Everyone is concentrating on the coast right now, and I am not all that confident they are thinking about the potential for flooding inland. Texas, unlike Louisiana, is mostly arid and the water just washes off that dry ground in flash floods.

My family and I should be flood-free where we are now even if San Antonio gets hit badly, although there is a storm channel about 50 yards from the apartment we are a good 20 feet above its top. There are a lot of people in the SA area who aren't as fortunate though.

I hope the authorities aren't preparing to fight the hurricane they had last time, because if they are then they are going to be caught flat-footed with everything out of position and late to affected areas again.

You can follow breaking news as it hits the net at NewsNow.
You can follow the storm's progress at StormTrack