Hurricane Rita Log
Well, I’m alive. Here’s how it shook down:
Friday 23rd September 1:00pm
Blue sky. Slightly cloudy. 100 degrees.
Friday 23rd September 2:01pm
Blue sky. Partly Cloudy. Beginning to be grey in the East. Light breeze with little gusts.
Friday 23rd September 5:27pm
Grey sky. Strong breeze. First drops of rain.
Friday 23rd September 6:42pm
Grey sky. Windy. 90 degrees. Dinner for 15.
Friday 23rd September 7:11pm
Sun beginning to set. Clouds broke for a short while. Loveliest rainbow I’ve ever seen; a full half-circle with a double. We are eating everything in the freezer in ase the power goes out; thought at first that there was only ice cream but discovered an entire turtle cheese cake.
Friday 23rd September 7:20pm
Oddest weather I’ve ever seen. Beautiful sunset in West, sky purple and dark grey in East. Boundary line directly overhead. Wind beginning to pick up.
Friday 23rd September 8pm
Dark and overcast; no stars. Sindy. Sprinkling. 85 degrees.
Friday 23rd September 11:30pm
Wind gusting to high. Have spent entire evening watching Veggie Tales and playing with little girls belonging to one of the staff members, trying to keep them distracted so they won’t be nervous about storm. Uno, Trouble, Jenga, Dominoes, air hockey. [Note: Have discovered that I should never play air hockey around small children; it is the only game in the world that makes me intensely competitive. I hate to lose that game.]
Saturday 24th September 2:45am
Woke up. Steady rain. High wind gusts. Worried about water seeping in around door seal. Light breeze from crack between doors. Persistent lightening.
Saturday 24th September 4:00am
Awoke to shrill beeping; alarm system was informing us that the power had gone out. Walked building; back-up battery packs to each computer were beeping. Had to unlock each office and turn each one off. Crazy creakings and moanings and whistlings and buzzing noises on the second floor; wind was getting between the concrete and the sheet metal of the roof. Rain was drumming as well. Haven’t heard anything like it except gymnastics practice during thunderstorms in the gym at the YMCA back home. Only that wasn’t quite as bad as this. Lightening still persists; very strong winds.
Saturday 24th September 7:36am
Warm and windy. Cloudy, but sky visible to East. No more rain. Storm seems to have passed.
