Hall pass request. Reason: TS Dean

[Meenah]

The only thing I can think to add is if you have to evacuate make sure you have an extra roll of toilet paper and any needed "feminine products" in your bag. I remember reading this in one of the many be prepared artcles after Katrina.

[MissCrabette]

Right now it looks like it will pass south of us and this hall pass request might have been for nothing. What worries me a little bit is the wait and the fact that my parents are scared out of their minds back in the US. Of course it doesn't help that they have never been here so they don't know that the ever prepared Dutch are on top of things and that the vast majority of buildings here are made of either reinforced concrete or big ol' cinderblocks. We even have a concrete roof so no worries there.

I can't wait for my mom's panicked call this afternoon asking why there was a hurricane watch issued for Saba. Gee, I don't know mom, maybe because the Netherlands Antilles government likes to be prepared and not necessarily because things are coming directly our way. The little Weather Channel snippets make it so easy for people to panic.

[SuzySunshine]

The little Weather Channel snippets make it so easy for people to panic.

Yes, yes they do - when my parents town flooded last month I thought I was going to have to peal my sister off of the ceiling. Hang in there.

[fluffhead]

So how was it?

[MissCrabette]

It still hasn't reached us yet but the winds started picking up very early this morning. We lost power for a short period this morning and I thought that was it and it was starting. Nope, not yet. In any case, the closest it will get is probably 200 miles south at around 2 PM today. Whew!

[Momo]

the closest it will get is probably 200 miles south at around 2 PM today. Whew!

Let's hope that's the closest any future storms may get!

[Mrs. McPads]

Wishing you the best! Check in when you can, hope it stays far far away.

Eileen

[Liz2254]

Hope everyone stays safe - good luck!!

Stay safe! Hopefully the storm steers clear of you.

[MissCrabette]

It passed south of us so we're OK. I can only imagine the destruction it caused in Martinique and I hope everyone in its path will stay safe during the weekend and beyond.

[DCJenn]

Glad it missed you. You're right, it sounds like Martinique got hit pretty badly and when I last looked it was heading directly for Jamaica.

We have a conference call scheduled for Sunday so we're not punting a la Katrina.

If it hits Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Houston, etc., there will be a LOT of people heading into San Antonio and they're going to need their methadone.

So far the plan is that if it looks like any of the big cities are going to take a direct hit from a biggie, we'll contact the methadone clinics there and ask them to fax us their client lists. (other wise we'd have to contact the Methadone Authority to make sure these people were really dosing where they said they were. and do pain clinics have to do this for their methadone patients? Nope.)

We have a 90 day supply of methadone so we can handle an influx.

Now we just wait and see.

Jenn

[fluffhead]

Not to minimize the impact of a cat 5 storm, and I'm sure glad I'm not in the way, but from 22,500 feet up, it sure is a thing of beauty:
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/index. ... 70&large=1

[poky]

Most recent report we got from the national disaster medical team DH is on is that 4 disaster medical teams are enroute or already staged in Dallas and El Paso, and two more are on alert in place (the ones based in Texas), and three others are on pre-alert. Each team is 30-ish people, 20-some of which are medical (the rest are admin/commo/logistics, etc.).

I'm assuming that means they'll be sent to Mexico to help out after it hits, since that's where it's headed.

[DCJenn]

Well, we'll need them here in TX if the colonias along the border flood. We've had so much rain this summer that we will flood if we get any of Dean's outer bands. They said that upwards of 150k people live in those places, right here in these United States.

The buses are all lined up at the Alamodome and the National Guard drove through as I was going to the gym this morning.

San Antonio is ready.

Jenn

[poky]

Turns out I was mistaken. The NDMS teams are strictly for US interests (they've been sent to Yap, but they won't be sent to Mexico).

So, if it causes medical issues in Texas, they'll be there for y'all!