So, our family basically slept thru it!
Unfortunately for the folks east of us (East Texas, Western Louisiana) ~ they received the brunt of the storm.
Hopefully they will be able to get their lives back together quickly after this.
Mary
I’ve heard that Rita is so slow moving that its going to hang around in the same area until Tuesday. That means an awful lot of rain and flooding in those areas.
djm
I really feel for those poor people in Louisiana, they have just been slammed.
for those that were able to evacuate, they are not to go back until everything is over and considered safe.
So sad.
M
Hey, Dix, thanks for reporting in! I’m so glad to hear all is well. 
I haven’t heard much about the areas that got hit harder and I know it’s supposed to stall and there will be torrential rain, so some places probably haven’t even gotten the worst of it yet. But still, I’m glad you guys got through it.
Yes, Cynth, thanks. We did get lucky.
At least these days with hurricanes, you can track them.
The worst things to me would be tornadoes.
In Washington state, where I grew up, we would get the occasional earthquake. They are over almost before you can process what’s going on, and they can cause a lot of damage in a very short period of time. That’s what I find much scarier.
Mary
Ya gotta be quick with earthquakes!
I spent 3 years in California before coming to Washington…
Its like anything else! Practice, practice, practice!
Earthquakes are definitely awful. I lived in CA for many years and was in many small ones, but never a big one. One of my earliest memories is my Dad running outside carrying me out of the house during an earthquake in Bakersfield. I never got the least bit used to them and would absolutely panic every time.
Glad to hear it wasn’t as bad for you as it could have been.
Speaking of natural disasters in general, I know that hurricanes leave a larger path of destruction and are just as deadly, but at least they don’t “sneak up” on you like tornadoes (which I think you implied). Our worry has always been to sleep through the sirens, which aren’t that loud at 2 a.m. when all of our windows are closed and we’re sound asleep.
Will O’Ban
The building I live in did the hula back in 1989.
Glad to hear you’re ok Mary 
Will, if you get the right kind of weather radio, you won’t have to worry about this ever again. It’ll be one of the best gifts you could give your family.
You need one of the National Weather Service alerting radios.
These “listen” all the time to the broadcast from your local National Weather Service station (or several of them, for that matter–you tell it which ones to use). When an alert is detected, the radio emits a LOUD series of alarm tones, then broadcasts the alert with all the details. The volume is adjustable. It is humanly impossible to sleep through one of the alerts. It stops broadcasting automatically after the notifications have been given, but they can have an LED screen that continues to post the type of warning until the warning has expired, so if you didn’t hear it, you can still see it.
Your siren operates off this same system. It’s the same notification that the TV and radio stations use for their alerts.
In addition to knowing that there might be or that there is a tornado, they’ll tell you where it is, what direction it’s moving in, and how long until it gets to you.
These are not expensive, but you have to be careful to get the right kind. There are very inexpensive weather radios, usually battery-operated only, which only broadcast NWS stations, but you have to turn them on and then listen. They don’t “alert” for you. They are useless.
You want the kind that listens and turns itself on. They plug in, but are backed up by a battery, like a smoke alarm. Radio Shack has them, but so do a lot of other places. Just make sure you get a fully featured one and that it turns itself on . . . most store clerks are unaware that these exist and they will sell you the wrong kind.
Well, thank you, Lambchop! I never knew there was such a thing. This is definitely a “must have.” I know that my wife will certainly sleep better during tornado season. I would say that having one of these radios is probably as important as having a smoke alarm in the house. We will certainly get one.
Will O’Ban
For your enjoyment, Will:
NWS Main Page about this: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr
Page about receivers: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrrcvr.htm
This is the one I have, from Radio Shack. It’s the plug-in kind, but it can be portable, too. About the size of a slice of bread. Sits on a table or hangs on the wall.
You can get ones that only operate on battery, though. Here’s one from Oregon Scientific, which also has a less expensive model.
Heh. I got one for my mother, but she refused to use it. Felt she’d have to get the tinfoil helmet out again . . . she prefers me to phone her every time the thing goes off. So I do. Every time there is a high-surf alert at 3 a.m. . . .
I don’t worry much about earthquakes (and we got SLAMMED in '89!), but tornadoes scare the bejeezus out of me. If I still lived in NC, I’d definitely get me one of those radios!
And, btw Lambchop…did I mention how fetching you look in your new picture?
Redwolf
Thank you, Red! And, would you believe . . . well, you probably will . . . that I did it all by myself? It’s a self-portrait!
I imagine all that lanolin keeps the flute well oiled, but doesn’t the lint get in the bore? (or the fluff get up your nose? 
)
djm
Mon ami, you have mistaken me for a cotton boll.
My fleece is long, luxurious, and sensual.
I do not lint. Nor do I shed.
Lamby, did I notice how cute you were before? I can’t remember. Maybe that was the pirate photo. Anyway, that new avatar is sure cute!!
We have one of those weather radios. Have no fear anyone. You will not sleep through this alarm! You could have a heart attack though when it goes off in the middle of the night. We can hear the sirens quite well, but I want to know if there is a tornado watch or a severe thunderstorm watch and I never can seem to find the weather on the radio. So this alerts you ahead of time to what might develop. You can get woken up for things in nearby counties, etc., although it doesn’t happen very often. But it has helped me be more calm about the weather since I feel I know what’s going on.
Thank you! You did notice before, but that was the pirate photo.
I am especially proud of this one, which I did all by myself. It’s my first venture into professional art.
Can you not turn off the neighbors? Joseph Smith lives in a particularly busy county, weather-wise. I had to turn his off. (Sorry, Joseph!)
We often get high surf and riptide alerts at 3 a.m. The purpose of these mystified me until I realized that they enable the local surfers to get some board time in before work . . .
Actually, I think the true purpose is to alert lifeguards and let the hotels on the Gulf know they’ll need to warn guests.
Those warning radios would be nice to have but only if they go off during a warning and not a watch. Around here they have a “watch” or “advisory” every time it rains. In the winter a half inch of flurries constitutes a “snow warning”.