Lafayette, College Station and The Woodlands Status Update

I have been getting emails from Garrett about conditions in Lafayette and he says that it started getting rough around 8:30 PM with lots of strong wind gusts and rain. A tornado warning has come and gone and many tree limbs have been falling. But power was still on for the entire neighborhood thirty minutes ago when we last had contact. I was speaking to my dad in College Station via cellphone and my dad was talking to Garrett through Google Talk. I could hear Garrett's voice and he sounded to be in good spirits. He and Nicole spent all day today and most of yesterday planning for this and have prepared very well in terms of food and other supplies.

I spoke with Roxi and she confirmed that the wind has picked up and a tree has been knocked over in her aunt's yard but she and her parents aren't too concerned. If forecasts are correct, the hurricane will be making landfall in about two hours and then if it continues on it's present course, Lafayette will be through the worst of it by 6:00 AM.

As far as College Station goes, they are currently seeing stronger wind gusts than Lafayette. But my parents, Travis and Danielle feel pretty secure and well out of the way of the brunt of the storm. They have checked in with Danielle's parents in The Woodlands and they too are doing fine and still had power at least half an hour ago (Rex is a family nickname I inadvertantly got from Danielle's hearing imparied grandmother!). So far so good. It will get worse in a few hours but it really seems to me like this storm might weaken as it is driven onto land. I hope that is the case as it will minimize any damage further inland, but it appears that Port Arthur, Beaumont and Orange,TX as well as Cameron and Lake Charles, LA will suffer the most through the next few hours. Time will tell but I plan to watch most of the night.