Hurricane Update

Friday afternoon we were briefed on what the University and departmental plans for responding to Hurricane Ike. We were told the most current forecast predicted 79 mph sustained winds and 5-8 inches of rain. This was supposed to have started before people woke up on Saturday morning, but the worst was to be between 12-5p.m. We were preparing for power outages, and possible tornadoes on Saturday. We moved everything movable indoors and prepared for the worst. And, the Baylor Bears were moved to an undisclosed location in a safer place.

Saturday morning I woke up around 10:30 and looked out the window. Anxious to see what a hurricane looked like first hand. All that greeted me was a very gray sky. The rest of the day there was some minor strong winds and sprinkles. No strong, sustained winds, no strong wind.

I spent the day being very lazy in my pajamas. The biggest news of the day is that my refrigerator broke and all the stuff in my freezer dethawed. But Baylor Facilities came to the rescue with a new fridge.

What I find very ironic is that my parents' house had stronger winds from Ike than did we. And, part of one of the trees in the yard fell on their house. Did I mention my family lives in Kentucky? You can read my dad's account of it here.

Today is beautiful. The sky is the most beautiful blue and the temperature is mild. The weather forecasters say that it should be in the 50s this week. Let's hope they are more correct than they were with the storm predictions!

I'm about to meet Ike

In case you haven't heard, there is a pretty strong hurricane headed towards Texas, and his name is Ike. Waco is pretty far inland (200 miles roughly) so we aren't in too much danger of being washed into the gulf. However, we do have to worry about lots of rain, wind and refugees. This means we're going to have flooding, possible tornadoes and lots of empty isles at the grocery and packed hotels.

I'm one of the hall directors on call this weekend, so it should prove to be interesting. I'll keep you posted- I've never really been through a hurricane!