23 September 2005
Crazy: Hanging at a seawall bar, watching the storm
KHOU-11 just showed at least several dozen people in Galveston at some bar near the seawall, hanging out, waiting for the storm to arrive.
I guess if you don't have the good sense to get off the island, you ought to be at a bar having a drink.
I wonder if the bar will still be there tomorrow?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 06:16 PM |
First rain in the Sharpstown area
We just got a few seconds of really hard rain out in the Sharpstown area.
Now it's stopped, and things have gotten very still.
We're right on the verge of this thing getting underway in a big way.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 05:45 PM |
Houston Zoo = Noah's Ark
Here's how the Houston Zoo is keeping its residents safe:
The Houston Zoo has turned itself into a type of Noah's Ark.
Animals of all sorts banded together as Houston prepares for Hurricane Rita. Picnic benches, garbage cans and other potential flying objects were fastened and secured. A protective fence is in place around the carousel.
Zoo spokesman Brian Hill says animals have been given some unusual accommodations. Geese, ducks and chickens roomed together in one of the zoo men's rooms, which don't have windows.
Turkeys were weathering the hurricane in a women's rest room.
Maned wolves and ant-eaters were shacking up with the tenants of the Siberian tiger section.
I hope one of our local media outlets will do a more in-depth story after all this is over, because I'd love to know what arrangements were made for the rest of the Zoo's inhabitants.
UPDATE: KHOU-11's story has a couple of pictures.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/05 05:34 PM |
HISD assists with evacuations -- again
HISD buses were pressed into service again, this time helping out with Hurricane Rita evacuations:
HISD's school bus drivers volunteered on Thursday, September 22, in Houston to rescue stranded evacuees from Hurricane Rita.
Here are some of the details of the work:
* A convoy of HISD school buses evacuated 400 senior citizens from the Primrose Del Sol nursing home on Aldine-Bender, taking them to the Amtrak station so they can catch a train out of town.
* HISD buses helped evacuate wheelchair-bound veterans from the Union Station Veteran's Center at Preston and LeBranch.
* HISD buses picked up wheelchair-bound patients from Tranquility Personal Care Center on Poco, and Unlimited Care Center on Glen Pines, taking them to Sam Houston Raceway, where they are being organized in the grandstand area and then evacuated from Houston.
* HISD may soon send buses to the George R. Brown Convention Center because of reports that evacuees are gathering there and need transportation.
This came about due to a request from Mayor White's office:
HISD received an emergency call from the mayor's office near midnight Wednesday, September 21, asking for school buses to help in the evacuation. HISD transportation officials quickly contacted the district's school bus drivers, and 150 of them volunteered for the job.
RELATED: HISD buses help with New Orleans evacuation (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/05 04:37 PM |
I-45 evacuees sheltering in The Woodlands
Tom Kirkendall posts a plea for bedding for just-opened shelters in The Woodlands:
Because of the traffic associated with Hurricane Rita, our local high schools (McCullough, TWHS, College Park) have opened as shelters. They are in need of bedding. If you have bedding available, please drop it off directly at the schools.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/05 02:51 PM |
2.7 million evacuated
On KTRK-13, Tom Abrahams just said that 2.7 million residents moved inland. That's HALF the population of Galveston/Houston/Harris County.
Wow! That explains the gridlock.
UPDATE: KPRC-2 story
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/05 12:41 PM |
Local radio simulcasting (updated)
In addition to streaming their feeds online, local TV news broadcasts are available on the radio.
KHOU-11 lists its radio partners as KHJZ 95.7 FM, KIKK 650 AM, KILT 100.3 FM, KRBE 104.1 FM.
KRIV-26 is simulcasting on KSEV 700 AM.
(I'll update with KPRC-2's and KTRK-13's simulcasting partners when I find that info.)
And of course, KTRH 740 AM has been wall-to-wall with excellent Hurricane Rita coverage.
UPDATE: A kindly emailer tells me that KTRK-13 is simulcasting on KUHF 88.7 FM.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/05 08:40 AM |
A little pre-Rita levity
Don't miss Ken Hoffman this morning:
It's perilous times like these that make me realize what is truly most important in my life: my big-screen TV.
I'm going to be that knucklehead sitting on the roof with a gun on his lap, surrounded by his 28 cats, perhaps a goat, and his complete collection of Sports Illustrated magazines.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/05 07:55 AM |
Like clockwork (with updates!)
Guess what useless D.C. politician is posing for photos at the morning press conference of our can-do hurricane-management leaders Mayor White and Judge Eckels?
Yes, that would be Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
One wonders what took her so long, although perhaps she waited until the first day that national media was likely to pick up the press conferences of our local hurricane management team.
The contrast between our local can-do political leadership and the Queen making her usual mad dash for the camera couldn't be greater.
UPDATE: The Queen has returned for the 9:00 am press conference. As in the earlier press conference, the people who are actually doing useful work (the mayor and judge) didn't bother to introduce the grandstanding pol from D.C.
UPDATE 2: KTRK-13's Miya Shay just interviewed Jackson Lee. I wish the local media wouldn't encourage her. At this point, she needs to get OUT OF THE WAY of the Houston/Harris County team that's doing important work.
UPDATE 3 (Anne): KRIV-26 is interviewing her now (9:30 a.m.) and she is saying that she will be asking the state emergency director to get involved. She says she is assessing the situation and is consulting with FEMA to make sure the feds are involved. She is also checking on the status of shelters.
I wonder why Mayor White and Judge Eckels haven't thought of these things? Good to know SJL is on top of the situation. Houston/Harris County residents can breathe easier.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 07:17 AM |
22 September 2005
It's about leadership, and we got it (updated)
Hurricane preps are in full gear in the Linehan house. I am not watching too much of the news (and therefore not blogging) because it's so overwhelming. I have decided instead to clean the house, do laundry and dream up things for my husband to do. (Wolfgang Puck's is closed today.)
I also want to add how lucky we all are to have Mayor White and Judge Eckels in charge. Yeah, we have some chaos and problems, but a huge number of people are evacuating and under the circumstances, it's probably going as well as can be expected.
Thanks also to the many other officials, including Governor Perry, who are working tirelessly to handle an extremely difficult situation.
Take care, everyone.
UPDATE: Thanks to Michelle Malkin for the link. I wanted to explain why I think Harris County and Houston officials deserve praise for their efforts, even though massive gridlock is an obviously big problem right now, so I sent her the following clarification:
There are estimates that more than 1 million people are trying to evacuate. It appears that some people are evacuating who really don't need to be -- they are in areas where they could ride out the storm relatively safely, if they have taken precautions (none of Harris County is under a mandatory evacuation order; residents in flood-prone areas have been asked to voluntarily evacuate). But some Houston city officials have gone on air begging people to get out and then late last night the storm track took a turn for a dead on hit at Galveston/Houston. Plus it was a Cat 5 at that time. It scared the hell out of many people (me included!) and many people probably decided at that time to get out.
AND we had the oh-so-recent Katrina disaster on our minds. How much of Houston/Harris County resources are either not here or have been depleted due to Katrina relief efforts?
Yeah, state officials probably should have opened the contraflow lanes earlier and maybe Houston should not have called for voluntary evacuations til later. But I think all these things piled on together to make this a very difficult situation for Galveston/Houston, where 1 million + people are trying to get out on evacuation routes that were not built to handle that volume of cars. City, county and state officials are trying so hard to save lives -- in direct contrast to NO and LA officials -- and I feel like I have to give them credit for that.
I have no doubt that when this is all over, officials will assess what did and didn't work. But, again, they are TRYING to do the right things and trying to save lives.
UPDATE 2: Jonah Goldberg at NRO's The Corner posts a couple of emails from readers who are also not looking to blame Houston/Harris County officials.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/22/05 12:46 PM |
21 September 2005
Berry: If you can get out, get out
Councilmember Michael Berry is currently on KPRC-2 with Frank Billingsley.
Berry's advice to Houstonians (not just those under an evacuation order) is a little ominous:
If you can get out, get out.
KPRC's round-the-clock coverage, by the way, has been very good.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/21/05 10:56 PM |
Let no hurricane get in the way of soliciting
I just got a call on my home phone line from a solicitor with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The fellow asked me if I was still in the Houston area, and if I knew how important it was to support the Texas DPS.
My exact response was, "Dude, are you aware the Houston area is under hurricane evacuation?"
He was, but that didn't seem to slow down his rebuttal or ongoing efforts at solicitation.
It is in incredibly poor taste for the Texas DPS to be pestering Houstonians trying to prepare for a Hurricane, let alone Houstonians on the No Call list.
UPDATE (09-22-2005): I just got this email. Apparently, this telemarketing organization was engaged in fraud:
Hi Mr. Whited,
The Texas Department of Public Safety does not solicit financial contributions from private citizens. DPS is funded from your tax dollars.If you have been contacted by a telemarketing organization representing itself to be the Texas Department of Public Safety, you should know that the DPS receives no financial support from these organizations. Some groups include in their names the terms “Texas Rangers,” “State Troopers,” “Texas Highway Patrol” or “Department of Public Safety.” While some officers may be members of these associations on their own time, these organizations are not affiliated with the DPS. They are private associations raising money to fund their own programs, some of which may benefit officers and their families.
If you have been contacted by an organization that you believe is misrepresenting itself, you can contact the Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at (800) 621-0508.
For additional information about a particular group, you can contact your local Better Business Bureau, which has information on fundraising organizations and the percentage of donations that actually goes toward helping people or projects.
Tela Mange
Public Information Office
Texas Department of Public Safety
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/21/05 05:53 PM |
Kirkendall: Don't underreact to Rita
Friend Tom Kirkendall posts some excellent advice today:
As all grizzled veterans of Hurricane Alicia in 1983 know (related Chronicle story is here), this is a serious situation for the Texas Gulf coast and it is time to prepare to batten down the hatches. If you are a relative newcomer to this area and have never been through an intense hurricane before, do not fall into the trap of thinking that the media and others are crying "wolf." This is a deadly serious storm that has the potential to be every bit as devastating to the Texas Gulf coast as Katrina was to the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Gulf coast. As destructive as Alicia was in 1983 (it's eye came in on Galveston's West Beach and tore through the middle of Houston on a track that essentially followed I-45), it was a minimal category 3 storm. In comparison, Rita is shaping up to be a much more powerful storm that is comparable to Hurricane Carla, which was a category 4 (winds of 133-155 mph) storm that caused incredible damage to Houston and the upper Texas Gulf coast on September 11, 1961. Carla had the same minimum barometric pressure as the great 1900 storm that killed over 6,000 people in Galveston.
I hope I have gotten your attention.
We're happy to do our part to help Tom get your attention.
Tom's post also contains links to web resources related to Rita, including the Chronicle's excellent SciGuy blog by Eric Berger. Laurence Simon also continues to link to local bloggers at the top of his blog. We'll try to remodel a bit here, and do something similar shortly (probably this evening).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/21/05 09:08 AM |
17 September 2005
Let's get some publicity and aid for Vietnamese evacuees
One of the aspects of Hurricane Katrina that is not making big headlines is the large Vietnamese population which has been affected.
Laurence Simon has mentioned this several times on his blog, most recently yesterday when he highlighted a USA Today column:
In the early '80s, Vietnamese refugees started settling into enclaves around New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile, attracted by the familiar humid climate and seeking to earn livings as fishermen and shrimpers. They learned English and passed citizenship requirements. They worked multiple jobs, put children through school and saved money to buy homes. They established businesses, temples and churches. According to the 2000 Census, more than 25,000 Vietnamese lived in Louisiana, nearly 6,000 in Mississippi and about 5,000 in Alabama. They considered these places home when Katrina destroyed everything.
One advantage in being a former refugee is understanding when help is needed. As news of Katrina's devastation spread, Vietnamese-Americans across the country rallied to contribute to relief efforts. With the help of Vietnamese-language radio stations, newspapers and religious organizations, they donated money, food, supplies and even their homes to evacuees.
About 15,000 Vietnamese have fled to Houston, but instead of heading to the Astrodome, many have sought refuge in Asian-American community centers, churches and temples, straining their resources. Thousands more are expected. There is concern the community might be trying to do too much on its own and that evacuees need government help.
The news media coverage and critique of Katrina response have largely been a black-and-white issue. But the recovery of the Vietnamese-Americans is important too, given their long history of displacement. Their experiences and successes should not be forgotten just because they need to be repeated.
And here's a Philadelphia Daily News story about one woman's efforts to help Vietnamese evacuees:
Word came last week to Au Huynh, a professional Vietnamese translator living in Grays Ferry.
"I thought since I was an interpreter I could help," Huynh said.
But Huynh quickly learned that the bureaucracy was too powerful despite her ambition.
[snip]
[Huynh] went to the hub of the relief efforts for the approximately 15,000 displaced Southeast Asian evacuees - a shopping mall 17 miles from the Astrodome.
Boat People's offices were on the second-floor of the shopping center.
"There are people sitting with all their belongings in a shopping cart," Huynh said, describing to this reporter in Philadelphia what she was seeing as she walked around the Hong Kong City Mall.
"The line here is insane," she said.
During the first few days after Katrina, Southeast Asian evacuees flocked to Houston because the city and its surrounding areas house more than 150,000 Vietnamese-Americans, a community leader said, making it one of the largest enclaves in the country.
Hong Kong City restaurants began to offer free food. Then strangers started dropping clothes, diapers and bottled water at the mall. Yesterday, a Houston councilman's office said a lawyer and a psychologist were at the mall offering their services for free.
But only a handful of Vietnamese evacuees are getting help.
"We are serving the same amount of people held in the Astrodome but with no services," Huynh said.
Before the hurricane, about 30,000 Vietnamese-Americans were living in Louisiana, 5,000 in Mississippi and 5,000 in Alabama. It is estimated that about half of them went to Houston.
As of yesterday afternoon, Huynh said she still had not seen workers from the Red Cross or the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the mall aiding the evacuees who pass through its doors daily.
She was so frustrated that she drove to a Baptist church where Red Cross workers were helping evacuees and demanded to speak with a supervisor. Huynh said the woman refused to see her.
She also sought help from a friend, Jim Kenkelen, in Philadelphia, a Center City stock trader. Kenkelen said he went to the Red Cross office on Chestnut Street near 22nd Tuesday and told several employees about the problems Huynh was seeing in Houston.
"I was just asking them to make a call" to Texas, he said. "I felt shut out."
When this reporter called the press offices of the two agencies, workers said they would notify the officials in Houston about the lack of support at Hong Kong City.
But Huynh's obstacles to help the evacuees never stopped.
Local reporting on the plight of Vietnamese evacuees has been underwhelming to say the least. Local media could make a difference here so this large group of evacuees can get some help.
We would encourage anyone helping Vietnamese evacuees to post in our forum, about how Houston-area residents can help, or send us an email at [email protected]. Also, if anyone is interested in a blog being set up for the Vietnamese-evacuee community, please contact Laurence Simon (who has offered to make this happen, including setup and hosting) at [email protected].
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/17/05 08:30 AM |
16 September 2005
AP: opening the Dome is Mayor White's "Giuliani moment"
This AP story describes Mayor White's response to the Katrina disaster as his "Giuliani moment":
As the tragedy unfolded in New Orleans, Houston's mayor threw open the Astrodome and the convention center to tens of thousands of Katrina's refugees. Then he did something more remarkable: He essentially told convention groups whose plans were spoiled by the move, "Tough luck."
The decision could ultimately cost Houston a bundle in lost business and burden its social service agencies for many years to come. But so far, this city of swashbuckling capitalism - of self-made oilmen, engineering magnates and real estate tycoons - is backing Bill White in his act of municipal compassion toward the mostly poor, mostly black victims of the storm.
For White, an enormously popular first-term Democrat up for re-election in November, this could very well be his "Giuliani moment" - the moment he, like New York's mayor in the aftermath of Sept. 11, distinguished himself in a crisis.
I would suggest Judge Roberts Eckels is deserving of praise, too, as is Governor Perry.
I'd also like to point out that on the Monday after the hurricane, Chris Baker (KTRH-740) was suggesting that the Dome be opened up for relief efforts.
And of course, Banjo wrote up the idea on the Wednesday after Katrina.
For a bit of added context...
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/16/05 01:56 PM |
15 September 2005
Reliant clinic closes; Local ERs expect to fill the void
Houston's emergency rooms are expecting to see lots of new patients now that the main clinic at the Reliant shelter has closed:
The main clinic at the Reliant shelter closed its doors on Thursday and for the first time Houston's emergency rooms will be put to the test, to see how they can handle the additional people. Already there are concerns about increased wait times for patients.
[snip]
"We all expect we will be getting lots of patients," said Dr. Joan Shook, Director of Texas Children's Hospital Emergency Center.
With the Astrodome clinic closing, emergency rooms like Texas Children's are bracing themselves.
Dr. Shook said, "We're gearing up for larger volumes. In effect, Houston has a whole new little city transplanted onto it without a whole new healthcare infrastructure, so these families will be seeking care in emergency departments."
Already, the Texas Children's ER has seen a spike in the number of patients. Typically 210 patients a day are treated in the ER. Now it's 260 a day. That can mean long, long waits.
"I think for relatively minor illness, it could be as long as 8-10 hours and not just here -- at other hospitals as well," Dr. Shook explained.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/15/05 06:48 PM |
13 September 2005
Citizen-journalists look inside the shelters
Tom Kirkendall calls attention to a blog by South Texas College of Law professors Tracy McGaugh and Kathy Bergin, who are making daily trips to volunteer at the city's official evacuee shelters:
Each day, the profs volunteer at the medical aid table and ask what medicine is needed. Then, the profs go to a local drugstore and buy the medicine needed. The blog has a link where you can donate to the cost of the medicine, which the profs have been largely subsidizing.
The blog also provides somewhat unvarnished commentary on the goings on at each shelter, which is an important component of the complete story regarding Houston's extraordinary effort to provide for the evacuees. It's not all peaches and cream out there, folks.
The blog is called White Washing the Black Storm. Apparently, the law professors have been able both to help out immensely (even spending their own money on medicine) and to play a watchdog role.
Kudos to these citizen-journalists for their volunteer efforts and for sharing their perspective from inside the shelters.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/05 09:54 PM |
10 September 2005
St. Agnes' Pastor: "This is real church"
KTRK-13's Laura Whitley reports on the pastor of St. Agnes Baptist Church, which recently threw open its doors to evacuees:
St. Agnes' Pastor Gene Moore realizes this isn't home. But he didn't hesitate to let the Red Cross run the operation out of his new sanctuary.
"So, I'm not having church but we are doing really doing church," said Pastor Moore.
Doing church in a building the congregation hasn't even moved into.
"This is real church, this is what church is about," said Pastor Moore.
What a refreshing attitude, considering some churches in town were silent for days as the evacuees started arriving (and that church never threw open its doors to evacuees, lest the television broadcasts be interrupted).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/05 10:01 PM |
08 September 2005
KTRK followup on New York Times
We hear from KTRK-13 that the station will be airing an update on the recent story by Tom Abrahams on a couple of articles from the New York Times company that put an ugly slant on Houston's relief efforts.
The update should air on the 6 pm broadcast, and the story should post to the website sometime afterwards. I have another commitment during the broadcast, so I'll be interested in hearing from commenters about the update.
UPDATE: Abrahams' "correction" is here. Still, his broader point about the tenor of the slanted coverage by the New York Times companies remains valid, as the company spokesman pretty much admits to him. They wanted to portray Houston as greedy opportunists, and so they did. And maybe if you're getting your news about Houston from national media or even from "heh, indeed" bloggers you believe them. You shouldn't.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/08/05 10:35 AM |
"Houston hospitality has been the best"
The Chronicle's Michael Murphy writes about several new members of Tom Penders' Cougar basketball family:
A group of UH basketball players were playing an impromptu pickup game at Hofheinz Pavilion. It was a mix of returnees from last year's team that won 18 games in coach Tom Penders' first season, and several new players from his first recruiting crop.
Among the new players was Corey Bloom, a smooth 6-5 swingman who was showing off his feathery jump shot. As he ran the floor, Al and Jeanette Bloom sat silently in the stands, absently watching their son play.
If circumstances were different, the Blooms would be back home, where Al would be running a pest-control business and Jeanette would be working at a hospital.
But for the Blooms, home is — was — in New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina submerged their home under 14 feet of water.
"We lost everything," Al Bloom said. "I lost my home, my business (Assurance Pest Control) and both of my trucks. I had contracts with the zoo, the aquarium, the nature center and ACRES (Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species).
[snip]
"When you lose everything, what do you do?" Al Bloom said. "You gotta be survivors. ... There's no way to describe this kind of devastation or how frightening that (flooding) can be.
"All I can say is that everyone we've met in Houston has been so gracious, kind and understanding. Houston hospitality has been the best."
The entire story is here.
Welcome to Houston and to the UH Cougar family, Mr. and Mrs. Bloom.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/08/05 10:28 AM |
[Previous 20 Entries] [Next 20 Entries]