Twiddling our thumbs

Increasingly, we're comfortable that we'll weather this (my dad taught me about very bad puns!), and so we've reached the point where we can reflect on the process, as the skies darken, the wind rises, and storm approaches. This'll be interesting. (It'll be VERY interesting if the forecasters are wrong and the storm DOESN'T take the anticipated right-hand jog in the next two hours!)

We've done all we can do, and now are just waiting. (TV's reached the point of inanity, so we're watching DVD episodes of "The West Wing".)

Leon Hale is a folksy columnist for the Houston Chronicle, who exemplifies the old-Houston style; I love his stories. Today, he's got a piece about his first hurricane in 1949, and how LONG the wind blows. It's that article that I'm thinking about as we wait.

STORM STATUS: Looks like a direct-hit on Beaumont, about 70 miles east of Houston. Wind speeds are 125mph (200kpm), with gusts to 150 (on the east side of the storm), and barometric pressure holding steady at 931mb. This should translate to top sustained winds here (at the house) around 70mph (not counting any tornados, please!), which the experts say should persist for 6-10 hours. For us, I think the biggest risk will be falling tree limbs (rather than disappearing roofs, or other Oz-like special effects).

REAL-TIME HOUSTON RADAR: The next-best thing to being here. Go to http://www.chron.com/, search for "local radar", and click the link. Our house is just beneath the first "O" in the word "Houston". (Be sure to click "loop".)

P.S. Leon Hale's column is at http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/hale/3365913