Yep

Nothing to prevent another major storm next week.

IMO the news media has a lot of culpability in what happened here in the Houston area. If there is widespread destruction and death next time  I will certainly lay some of it at their feet.   Every news moron that could get face time on tv was yelling for people to Get Out !  Flee for you Lives !
From what I could see , there was a decent plan of evacuation that was going along fairly well until all of this started.   Then I heard that Bastardi character on Hannity's show do the Chicken Little Jig too..... I couldn't believe my ears !   These panic mongers  , intentionally or not but certainly in an irresponsible manner caused thousands of people to drop their preparations , toss whatever into their cars and get on the road at once.   Gridlock was the result.  The next morning I hear that superslut Geraldo moaning about how things are terrible here too.  What, he's now an expert because he spent some time mugging for the cameras in NO ?  Many folks will take the chance and stay next time rather than face what they did these past few days.
The real pisser is that they have a built in pass by  saying "I would be blamed if people died because I didn't speak up."    
To me it was like yelling Fire! in a movie house.

The news seldom gets it right.  

Very few people die directly as the result of high winds during hurricanes.  Most of the time, it is flooding/drowning...  problems that can be avoided.   Of course there are tornados, fires, electrical problems (electrocutions), falling objects, etc... but the real problems arise from how people respond to the storm.  

In an area with the topography of NO, where drowning is a distinct possibility for many people, having a bug out plan is the responsible thing to do.  If you choose to live in such an area, that is a risk that you have assumed and many people simply don't want to accept this responsibility.  Darwin at work.  

If you don't live in an area that is prone to being submerged (Houston Metro), most likely there will be more deaths attributed to the exodus from the coast (auto accidents, medical problems, crime) than are attributed directly to the wind/water.  

The one meteorologist who predicted a Port Arthur hit from the very beginning was also saying that another system is looming out in the carribean right now that has potential for the same path again.

Ask the guys in South Florida how many hurricanes can hit in one season.  Ask they guys who have been stationed in or are from Guam or the Philippines how many typhoons can hit in one season.

My gut feel is we are going to find out the Feds did what they were supposed to but waited too long for the Gov to do what she was supposed to.  You plan for  the worst and  you act on the worst until you know it isn't.  The NO model of figuring it ain't gonna hit again, and I don't want to inconvenience people doesn't fly.

So what if Galveston and Houston evacuated and it missed, what would have happened if they planned for a miss and it hit?

And it ia almost always the flooding associated with tropical cyclones that kills the most people, between storm surges,  and the rain runoff from several days of double digit rains locally and upstream, people in the low country freaking drown.  NO dodged a big bullet because if that sucker had hit it or come in a little to the west the flooding would have been far far more deadly, and almost everybody that tried to stick it out at less that third floor would have bought it.

Hyper sensationalism can be a deadly thing. We really don't have any prior model to look at to see how bad things can get, because we've never had media that was as pervasive as it is now.

during instances like this, it pays to be mormon

All I can say is 9/11

Sure everyone remembers it.  How long did it's immediate affects last.  How long were you (well maybe not the readers of this board, but your neighbors and people in general) more aware of their surroundings?  How long did the "goodwill to your neighbors because they're americans" last?  3 months?  Less?  Thought so.

Humans are very forgetful, for lack of a better word.  Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.  Been that way for 1000's of years.  Will continue to be that way.

I emailed my brother/sis-in-law some ideas in how to get ready for Rita's arrival.

She went shopping for lawn furniture instead.

It amazes me how people refuse to spend several hundred dollars to gather the means get through some unexpected cut in normal supply chains or breach social order and security.

It doesn't cost THAT MUCH to secure yourself for a considerable amount of time.  People who I have talked about this with even feel pressure from a social stigma...(Well, if I gather all that stuff up, people will think we're crazy!)

I frequently hear the semi-joking remark amongst co-workers, who know of my penchant for firearms and a generally "be prepared" attitude who all state "Well, if the shit hits the fan, I know where I am going..." which means my house.  I realize such statements are made mostly in jest, but there is a sheepish truth behind them as well.

As if I, some obscure dude who in many ways is just a yuppie fag with redneck wannabe leanings could take in their huddled masses in and lead them to warmth and comfort in their perception of my "compound" which in reality is a house in a completely stereotypical suburban neighborhood which requires about $40 worth of candy each Halloween if you want make it through the evening alive.

Yeah, so I keep a decent amount of drinking water on hand.

A healthy supply of canned goods.

A half-assed first aid kit.

Toilet paper.

A nice handheld shortwave radio.

More guns than is practical.

Ammo.

With a strange penchant for flashlights, I have a lot of them.

I also like to burn candles.  If happen to find a mid-aisle 80% clearance orgy in a store, I fill up.

A kerosene heater

Firewood.

Soap.

Beer.

About 40 lbs. of Kitty Food to keep Ivan and Bob from killing me in the night.

Playboy's "No Boys Allowed 2...100% Girls" DVD.

I am pretty well set, though I have been debating getting a decent generator, but have not been able to get myself to pull the trigger just yet.

It doesn't take that much to keep yourself self-sufficient.