Dallas/Fort Worth...email sent yesterday about Category 1 hitting there.

[madfloridian]

I just edited the subject line to indicate the email was sent out yesterday.

Someone just shared an email with me...here is a portion. Interesting what FEMA will and will not do.

SNIP.." Part of my job requires me to meet with FEMA regularly. I met with them last night and will meet with them today at 5pm. I wanted to share some info with you all:

SNIP..."First, while we all hope it slows down it is possible that Rita will still be a category 1 hurricane when it reaches DFW. This is the situation FEMA is preparing for.

Note: FEMA cannot take action until the President declares a state of emergency. Gov. Perry has already made the request and it is only a matter of time before Bush makes the declaration. Once this declaration is made, please tell your friends and family to begin registering with FEMA: both owners and renters alike. They, and indeed you do not have to wait until after Rita hits to register. YOU MAY REGISTER AS SOON AS THE FEDERAL DECLARATION IS MADE. If everything is fine after Rita your application will simply be cancelled or denied, but if not, please remember it may be very difficult to get a phone line or on the internet after Rita and traveling to register in person may not be safe for awhile. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands if a million or more who will be registering.

FEMA: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or www.fema.gov

Also, FEMA is not in the business of sheltering. The RED CROSS is ready to open new shelters for the Rita evacuees but cannot do so until the city gives the word. At last night’s meeting Dallas city officials had not done so and had no plans to do so. Thus, at this time no new shelters will open in Dallas.

Rumor Control: Houston Katrina evacuees still in shelters are not coming to Dallas. They have been airlifted to Fort Chafe, Arkansas.

Flooding: Dallas also has a system of levees. If we get what the city calls “an 800 year event” a good part of downtown Dallas could be flooded. In fact ironically if this occurs our city’s Office of Emergency Preparedness will be under water. This is not expected to happen but is a possibility and the city states that we are prepared. Still, if you do not need to be in downtown Dallas this weekend…

Please get water and gas ASAP. The lines are long everywhere and demand is high. Conservative estimates expect Dallas to see 200,000+ people from around Texas taking refuge here.

Have identification and important papers with you at all times. GET CASH FROM BANK! If we are w/o electricity for any length of time, ATMs and credit cards will not work.

Call me if you have any questions and I’ll try to get the answers.

If you live alone, like me, and do not want to ride the storm out alone, come on over. I’ve got a pull out couch and my sofas are really comfortable.

Please pass this info on to friends and family."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Many folks coming to Arkansas

They had photos of people from the Houston shelters coming into Arkansas in yesterday's paper (Dem-Gazette, which circulates state wide).

My brother in law lives in DFW. Maybe time for him to come for a little visit.....

[Ishoutandscream2]

2. Category 1 hurricane here in Dallas? Wow

I think that's highly unlikely. We're a good distance from the gulf. But in these times, who the hell knows.

[madfloridian]

4. We were 80 miles from Port Charlotte when Charley hit as Cat 4.

We had Category 1 Plus....huge damage. We are in the center of the state, and we got Cat 1 damage PLUS from 3 hurricanes last year.

[Ishoutandscream2]

6. Yes, we're about 250 miles from Houston

I can see us having some pretty big storms. I wouldn't bet on a hurricane, though. But like I said before, who knows.

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. I found a small Husky generator at Home Depot today...

in North Dallas at Coit and Campbell. They may have had one more like that one ($89 with a 110 outlet) They still had a couple of the larger models left (the industrial strength $1200 jobbies).

They still had tons of batteries there of all sizes. But there was a lady there stocking, and said she'd been doing it since they opened, so they're going fast.

Guess I should have gone to the bank too!

We'll hope for the best.
FSC

[Silverhair]

5. Rita's course has sifted to the east.

Looks like the eye will go over Tyler, as a tropical storm. All Dallas will get will be some rain and winds of 20 to 30 mph.

[crispini]

7. Fuckin A!

this is scary!

[sui generis]

8. it's 40 mph sustained winds

in some cases up to 70, which we have had before.

Much of the rain will have dispersed already, and the Trinity basin is not at risk unless we get literally days of non-stop heavy rain.

The worst thing to worry about downtown is flying glass in 70mph winds (Cat 2) or being on an elevated overpass (such as the High 5), & flash flooding in Oak Cliff, Arlington & Grand Prairie (hillier areas)- Dallas is a glass skyscraper city, and the north 75 corridor has taken severe wind damage to glass faced buildings in past 70 mpg events.

I would say remain practical about this until you hear from official sources.

[Fescue4u]

9. Thank you very much

I had flight plans that involved connecting through Dallas this weekend.

Ive definitely modified them accordingly.

[madfloridian]

10. The surprise to me was about the shelters.

"Also, FEMA is not in the business of sheltering. The RED CROSS is ready to open new shelters for the Rita evacuees but cannot do so until the city gives the word. At last night’s meeting Dallas city officials had not done so and had no plans to do so. Thus, at this time no new shelters will open in Dallas."

I worry about evacuees, as we had friends galore last year stuck on highways with nowhere to stay. They would pull off the highway as the storms neared and just stay in shelters.

[crispini]

11. Shelters ...

Dallas city staff are pretty much wiped out from caring for Katrina evacuees. It's sad, but understandable. We actually got more evacuees than Houston did.

[madfloridian]

13. Our area, a huge county, only had 8 shelters offered last year.

I was really amazed at that. If people in more rural areas needed a shelter to plan to go to during a storm, they had to drive miles. We used to have at least 4 shelters in our city of over 80,000...but I did a search before the storms last year and only found 8 in the whole county. Shelters cost money to maintain, and if the feds are not going to come through anymore the people are screwed.

But what will Dallas do about their own people in a worse case scenario? I have a couple of kids who live there.

One is ok, on higher ground near the city proper. The other lives in a low lying area and is concerned.

You are right, they have had a mess to deal with. It is the new "neighbors help neighbors" approach of this administration...the faith based type of care. W stood in the worst hit area in Central Florida last year, and said just "take care of each other."

Yeh, right, George. The blind and helpless leading the blind and helpless.

[demo dutch]

12. Cat 1 hits Dallas, then Crawford TX will be impacted as well

[CarlWoodward]

14. fortunately

Fort Worth, where I live, is on a bluff, so we don't have to worry about flooding (at least not in my neighborhood.) It's hard to imagine a Cat 1 getting this far inland, however.