Fled from Hurricane Rita!

Last Thursday September 22nd. Hurricane Rita reached 175 mph and had the full force of a Category 5 hurricane, heading to Texas and Lousiana and severely threatening Houston. So Alicia and I decided to evacuate. We left at 4:30 AM that day togehter with other four friend's families. As you may have heard, all Houston's highways were totally packed when more than two million people tried to left the city.
One of our friends, armed with a GPS, guided us through farm roads and even dirt roads all the way to Dallas. We made 9 hours to get there when a normal trip takes 3, but we were VERY lucky considering the number of cars that were stuck at the roads for hours and running out of gas.
You have to see our SUV: Us, together with 3 dogs, a ferret, an iguana and all the stuff we tried to take with us. The previous night we "tried" to protect our house's windows with tape, grab all important papers, some food, the animals, and started the adventure.
We arrived at a beautiful little town called Waxahachie, 30 miles before Dallas, TX, where we found, as a real miracle, a room at a hotel there. It was impossible to get reservations via the internet or by phone.
Some of our friends stayed in Dallas and others have to drive all the way to Oklahoma. Incredible.
On Sunday, and celebrating Alicia's birthday, we came back to Houston, and as a gift for her, we found our house in good shape. Just tons of debris, leaves, branches, etc. But everything was in its place.
Waxahachie is a beautiful old town from the 1800's. What an adventure! Hewlett-Packard closed its main campus from the September 22nd to the 27th, following the recommendations from Houston authorities that tried to coordinate a more orderly return.
We haven't seen something like this in the 9 years we have lived in Houston. Something is changing in our global weather conditions.


Hurricane Rita near the cost of Texas and Louisiana


Rita's path from Sept. 17th. to the 25th.


Municipal Court building at Waxahachie, TX