Hurricanes Blow · 8:24pm Sep 2nd, 2017
pun intended. Because I need SOME fucking levity in my life right now.
So in case people out there didn't know on August 25th a hurricane blew into Houston and basically sat on top of it for several days, dropping 40 inches of rain onto the city and displacing thousands of people. People have either been driven from their homes, or trapped inside them. Huge chunks of the city are still underwater with many roads and highways submerged because the waterways are so flooded that they aren't draining properly. City officials are forced to ALSO release even more water from the nearby reservoirs so that the dams don't burst and cause even more destruction.
For those wondering where I am... I live in Houston.
Now, luckily, my house was actually spared. I did not get flooded and everything in my house is still intact.
With that said, though, it's not as though I'm unaffected. My house has been losing power and internet sporadically since the hurricane began and it lost it consistenly for nearly 72 hours at one point. What's more, some family members and friends HAVE been flooded or had damages to their house and I've been trying to chip in to help them out. On top of that, I've also joined a neighborhood watch program at nights to keep our neighborhood safe from looters
Yeah. On top of everything else, there are fucking LOOTERS breaking into houses and stealing shit.
And if we didn't have enough to deal with, here's something they're probably NOT telling you on the news: People are finally getting power back... but they're getting power back while still flooded. This has caused people to be electrocuted and it's caused electrical fires in a bunch of homes throughout Houston.
Which leads me to what's going on now: Even though we only got power back about 24 hours ago, the fire department (See edit below, the fire department had nothing to do with this) has apparently decided to cut off power to an approximately 15 square mile area to try and stop these fires and electrocutions from happening. My neighborhood is smack in the middle of that area.
We will be without power for 15 days. Minimum.
Until the flood waters recede, I believe is the statement we've been given, which is projected to take at least 15 days.
Sorry I haven't been more forthright with information. I came back from vacation only to land myself in a fucking warzone.
At the very least, I'm alive, I'm healthy, and my house is intact. That's more than a lot of people can say. Still, there's pretty much NOBODY in the city who's "unaffected" by this. We're all basically trapped in the city because a lot of the roads out are flooded and impassable. All the hotels in the city are full. Nobody can buy gas. Very few grocery stores are open. Most businesses are still shut. That's IF they haven't been flooded. Even the roads that are dry are still covered in debris. Many buildings are just straight-up GONE. Shit's bad over here.
Anyway... I'll be back sooner or later. I can only beg your forgiveness for not being more forthcoming with this and everything else that's been going on with me.
EDIT:
So, since posting this, some new information has come to light. First of all, it's not the fire department doing this, it's the City Council, the Mayor, and the power company. I spoke with my local fire chief and the fire department is just as pissed as everybody else about this, because they only have one working station in the area and if the power goes down they're in the zone that'll be affected. Basically, if this goes through, they'll not only be cutting off power to all these neighborhoods, but also the fire station itself. On top of that, they'll also be cutting off power to the only active grocery store in the area, as well as a freaking HOSPITAL.
With all that said, it's possible that this whole thing is actually not going to happen at all. There are a dozen conflicting reports all claiming different areas that will be affected, how long they'll be without power, where it'll happen, when it'll happen, etc. Some reports say the power will only be down for a day. Some say the power will only be down for a day and the outage is planned for a week from now. Some say that it's only happening to our west. Some say it's only happening to our south. Some say it's happening everywhere. Some say that we'll still be affected but the hospital won't. Some say that we'll still be affected but the hospital AND the grocery store won't.
There's an outage map on the electrical company's website, and they're saying that the outage is planned for an area west of us, and it's only going to last for a day and it's planned to happen a week from now.
While that would be great for me, that begs the question of why the fire chief would give me information SO inaccurate. Apparently he'd been on the phone with the power company all day, and everything he told me he was told by representatives of the power company themselves. I don't see why he'd have reason to lie, and surely he wouldn't want to cause a panic.
Meanwhile, I can see why maybe the power company would lie. They might lie about this and claim that the area is smaller than it was originally reported, as well as shorter lasting than originally reported, because they don't want to bring a fucking RIOT down on their heads.
Still, if they ARE lying, that CAN'T be fucking legal. I can't IMAGINE it's legal for them to put false information on their official website that provides an essential service to the city, and by doing so directly lead people astray into putting themselves into harm's way.
So basically, the long and the short of it is... nobody knows what the fuck is going on. We've got dozens of conflicting reports that all say something different. Nobody knows when we're going to lose power if we're going to lose power at all, and if we do how long it'll last for.
All we can really do is sit here. 'Cause nobody's actually bothering to COMMUNICATE with us and let us know what's going on. All we can do is sit here and hope the power stays on.
That's not killer on the fucking nerves or anything.
Best of luck to you.
Maybe you could wade over to PaulAsaran's place and hang out? Because he's also in the area.
Be carful lad, don't get hurt. BTW, one of my mom's friends lives in Houston, so you're not alone. :((
Damn. That's a serious cluster. Just keep it together, man. I'm praying for you guys.
Well shit. I haven't gone through anything that bad since a tornado ripped through my house back in kindergarten. Hope you come out of this unscathed, dude.
Randomly decided to check up on you. I'm glad I did. Have an e-hug. *hugs*