It's raining, It's pouring.....

Excerpts from the Original Houston Political Dictionary:

Hurricane (n): 

1. A weather event that triggers an immediate evacuation of the residents of the City of Katy.

2. A rum drink of which it's a better idea to prepare and enjoy in Katy during an actual Hurricane than it is to evacuate the area.

After several, fierce, rain and wind events Houston is finally hunkering down for a good, old-fashioned Tropical Storm.

Well, sort of.  You see, this one is going to miss us to the South by a couple of hundred miles and we're really going to get *checks notes* some rain and probable street/river/bayou flooding. 

Yes, there will be some localized power outages (I guarantee you ours goes out. Our power grid suddenly becoming VERY sketchy since the great derecho of 2024) and some places might see worse rain than others, be careful if you live to the South of Houston, down by the coast, but overall it's expected to be rather mild.

So, of course, it's impossible to find fresh milk in some places (really???? MILK??) people are filling up with gas (a good idea actually) and I'm sure that "I live in Katy, should I evacuate?' has reared it's ugly head up on the various local weather blogs.

It's not dumb to take any potential Houston weather event seriously these days, what with it's creaking infrastructure and will they or won't they electrical grids, you never know when you might need to crank up the old generator, or plan to make arrangements to cook outside for an evening or three.

I have to admit to not getting the 'stock up on milk' thing however. You're buying mass quantities of the one thing that's probably going to spoil in the heat first? I get it, some people have babies and kids that like milk. Understood, but American milk has an incredibly short shelf life. In the past we have purchased the European style, shelf stable milk. It certainly does not taste the greatest, but it lasts forever.

It's also not dumb, if you're able, to give serious thought on whether or not you commute to the office that day. If you can work from home, it could be a good idea to do so. Houston traffic is a mess on the best of days. When some moisture falls from the sky it's an unmitigated disaster. I myself have been watching the forecasts, even though I live in Northwest Houston, which is expected to be relatively spared.

What this should serve as is a reminder that, Hurricane season is here, you decided to live coast-adjacent, and having to soldier through weather events such as this is part of the trade-off. Get your important papers in a waterproof case ready to go, some essentials, and hope for the best. Unless you're down on the coast the worst thing you are probably going to have to deal with is a prolonged power outage. So, stock up on propane and get proficient at cooking outside. Keep your insurance up on your vehicles, and keep a close eye on the weather.

Hurricane season in Houston starts now.