[houstonmacgregor]

Live in Houston and hope to get out some in the storm and snap some pictures. I have the K10 so the camera is somewhat sealed, but concerned on how to easily, and simply protect the lenses. Just the normal non- sealed type.

Sure I am not the first in this situation so would appreciate any suggestion.

[HawaiianOnline]

DO NOT GO OUTSIDE!!!!

Flying debris can be enough to seriously injure or even kill you. A hurricane is not something you want to be out in. Make sure that you and your family has a safe place to hide in and that you have enough food and water to last a week. Remember the response after Katrina? While I don't think that the emergency response will be anywhere near as bad, it is better to be safe than sorry. Also make sure you have a supply of any necessary meds and a first aid kit. Even if the hurricane itself does not result in injuries, moving through the aftermath can very dangerous. It you have camping gear, then you'll be in good shape in case your shelter loses its roof. Make sure that your food is non-perishable and does not require heating in order to eat it. Military field rations (like MREs) are great even if they are not palatable for everyone. Better to be slightly disgusted with your food than to be starving. Did I mention getting enough water?

That said, you can probably take pictures up to the point where debris start flying around. There's also the period of calm when the eye passes over, but there no guarantee that the eye will pass over where you're at. Even if it does, hurricane force winds and rain will return with very little warning. Do yourself and your family a favor and just get to a good shelter. If the civil defense shelters are anything like here in Hawaii, then they won't allow pets. You might want to check with your local pet shelter of humane society if there are any emergency shelters for pets.

EDIT: Good luck and take care.

[PentaxPoke]

Yes, please don't be foolish: Take cover! People fail to realize that it is not the winds in a tornado or hurricane that kills you: ITS THE 2X4 FLYING THROUGH THE AIR AT 100 MILES AN HOUR THAT KILLS YOU.

[straightshooter]

Uh, this could be a catagory 3 or 4 storm by the time it gets there. In all seriousness, as someone who has lived in Florida for almost 40 years, my suggestion if you can't get out of town, is to find someplace VERY strong and hunker down until it gets past. Especially if you are on the North and/or East sides of the storm. Almost every year in Florida there is always some tourist that wants to go to the beach to "see the hurricane" and almost every year some tourist's remains are shipped home. Think of it this way, one shingle from a roof flying through the air at over 100 miles per hour would have a similar effect to a guillotine.

Personally, this sounds like an excellent time to take some photographs....of the Alamo in San Antonio.

CW

[houstonmacgregor]

Thanks for the thoughts, but I will play it safe. There should be periods before the debris start to fly and then afterwards to safely take the pictures

[nulla]

If your willing to post the resulting photos then I guess we will see who was correct.



Take care mate



Neil

[mithrandir]

Be safe, my prayers are with you and Houston.

[cardinal43]

Let me add my comments also about not going out. Don't do it! I lived through Hurricane Camille, Aug 1969 in MS. I was 60 miles north of the gulf coast, and when the winds came through my hometown, they were 140mph. You can't imagine what damage occurs. My wife (pregnant at the time), the dog, and I spent the night huddled in a bathtub in the hallway of our apt. Scared the crapola out of us. Lost power for 8 days. Try that in August in MS!

[iced]

Safety first, My Prayers are with you and others effected by this MAJOR STORM.

[little laker]

A friend of mine was a security guard, and stayed at work through a Hurricane.
They had a safe place to stay during the ruckus, but forgot about the eye of the storm.

I understand that after the noise died he went outside for a short while, and almost never made it back inside again.

He isn't making that mistake again.

[houstonmacgregor]

Quiet so far, some wind. And dark, nothing in the sky. Guess will loose power about 1am.

Staying inside

[HawaiianOnline]

Don't stand by windows. It's chilling to see 2X4s and other debris driven into and through them. Unless you have bullet resistant glass and fairly thick walls. A friend of mine on Kauai told me how they came home after Iniki in 1991 to find all the windows perforated by debris and at least one 2X4 driven through a plywood wall. At least they still had roof even though all the shingles were gone.

[rburgoss]

Whatever the outcome around your home, let us know when you are back, safe and sound.

Robert B

[rfortson]

Well, we dodged a big bullet. Lots of tree debris down in our neighborhood (we're southeast side of Houston, 30 miles from Galveston and ~10 miles as the crow flies from the Galveston Bay), but no flooding and we have power and water. I don't know how we still have power, but I'm thankful.

Here's a shot of our street in 2006.


Here's a shot of our house just before I left for downtown Houston to ride out the storm.


And here's our street as of today after the storm.








We are very fortunate, and it's a miracle that so few were killed/injured. Over 2.5million people don't have power in Houston, yet we do at our house.

[HawaiianOnline]

Here's a shot of our house just before I left for downtown Houston to ride out the storm.

Thankfully you're ok. I have to wonder about the original poster though. It must be weird looking at that photo. I remember back during the 91 hurricane here. You must've been wondering if your house would still be there for you when you came back. My brother in law is in San Antonio right now, but he and his wife live in Galveston on the island. He's wondering if he even has an apartment to go back to on Monday...