Light Side: News

That's Two Brave Dentists

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 22:02:57 GMT

Dentists Tom Klein and David Regine reportedly performed a root canal on a two-year-old polar bear this morning, using various improvised tools, including plumbing supplies, because of the bear's large teeth.

Apparently it wasn't holiday candy that got the bear in trouble (been there, done that - "What do you mean my 4-year-old needs a root canal??!!"). The 3-inch long tooth was chipped and got infected.

Drs. Klein and Regine managed to stay out of trouble by making sure Koda the polar bear first "was rendered unconscious with an anesthetic dart before the procedure. 'We're always concerned about that wearing off.'"

Yeah, I bet. I also bet Koda's picture is going to go up on the wall with the rest of their animal (Dr. Klein) - and human (Dr. Regine) - patients.

Hurricane Rita: Reflections

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:48:28 GMT

Besides my five earlier entries, a few more thoughts about Rita and hurricane preparation, some more weighty than others:

Preparation means "ahead of time", not "on time". In our new just-in-time economy, there's not much reserves in place near the end user. Our transportation systems normally make up for this, but when they are disrupted by an emergency or that emergency produces a surge in demand, shortages can be severe. This was most disturbing with regard to gasoline (the oil industry has been running very lean for a long time, as I discussed in my blog RealCurrents), but it would have been a major issue, very soon, in a lot of other areas had Rita been a direct hit on the Houston metro area.

While Houstonians may not be particularly thrifty, they are resourceful. After the Home Depots had run out of plywood, I heard a story about a truck full of the stuff, with a line of vehicles following it to the store. Later the news reported similar stories of folks trailing gasoline trucks.

Even for someone like me who tends to become more calm during a crisis, rather than hyper, when you start coming up with images in your mind of your family huddled in the dark, the wind howling, your children screaming, and ominous noises coming from the attic, there's stress. Oh, yeah, there's stress. I can understand why people wanted to leave, never mind the advice to run from water, but hide from wind.

Nevertheless, as engineers understand, every choice in life involves trade-offs. The search for perfection, whether it be for perfect safety or something else, is futile and often produces poor judgment. We saw this in the case of the evacuations; apparently besides the bus fire that cost nearly two dozen lives, there were reportedly many other lives lost through traffic accidents and excess heat (generally the disabled or elderly).

Public officials must understand that many people are very poor at assessing and dealing with risk and uncertainty, and adjust their warnings accordingly. As I noted, there were still being calls made for voluntary evacuations, if inclined, hours after TV reports showed every major artery clearly in gridlock.

People tend to focus on the big risk/reward, just as with the lottery, rather than minimizing overall risk, and even then many evacuees didn't do a lot of little things that could have substantially reduced risk, such as carrying adequate supplies of food and water. One Sugar Land father and his two children were killed when they were ejected from their vehicle in an accident, because they weren't even wearing seat belts.

While authorities and media here have done an excellent job, it seems, teaching the public about the danger of hurricanes and how to understand and prepare for them, I guess a similar educational effort about how to prepare for and carry out an evacuation is also needed.

As I noted earlier, I am very thankful that our family came out fine. Hurricane Rita was certainly not a storm to be trifled with. Besides going through a useful drill that should help us better assess our capabilities and prepare more quickly next time, we've reaped a further benefit - hurricane prep is also a great excuse to re-organize your garage and throw out the "junk"!

Hurricane Rita Update 4

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:48:49 GMT

Ever since they shut down the South Texas Nuclear Plant before Rita hit the flourescent lamp on my office ceiling won't come on; it just flickers. That this is perhaps the biggest nuisance we've experienced shows that things have thankfully turned out very well for us. We didn't even lose power, though some places in our area did. This is particularly nice since the temperature shot right back up to 100F Sunday, as it had been last week.

Actually, those hot temperatures the past two weeks here really paid off, in that the hot, dry air Rita started sucking in as it approached the Texas coast appeared to considerably weaken it. It also meant that we got little rain, probably less than one inch, which is very low for a tropical event.

Some folks farther west, in Sealy, actually called in to the station apparently complaining that they hadn't got any of the rain they were counting on for their crops. All in all, the west side of Houston fared very well, though Galveston and close in had damage. The east side got a lot more damage, increasing as going toward Beaumont.

After such an outcome, it would be easy to forget how bad things were looking Wednesday evening for folks here. For those of us in the southwest Houston area, it was pretty near to a worst-case scenario. Rita had strengthened to 175 mph (sustained) winds, a strong category 5 and the third-strongest storm on record, the strongest in the Gulf of Mexico.

It was projected to come in somewhere between Matagorda Bay and Freeport, and to be gradually curving to the northeast, which would have put the seaward ("dirty") side of the storm and its surge going right up the Brazos River and Oyster Creek, which both empty at Freeport. The strongest winds would have been coming up that eastward side of the storm, and at 175 mph, even 50 miles or so inland might have been quite strong (the terrain here is VERY flat).

While Houstonians generally ride out most storms, unless near the coast or a flood plain, everyone got pretty much the same awful picture Wednesday night, which is why Houston evacuations started in earnest early Thursday morning. A lot of folks all apparently had the same idea, to get out of town early, really early, before the traffic surged. Alas, it did little good; even those who left at 3 or 4 a.m. hit major traffic jams. Susan and I were really glad we didn't try that approach; those who did suffered a lot, being stuck on the hot pavement in 100F heat Thursday, with their air conditioners off to save fuel.

I have some more I hope to write later about the experience but to sum up for now, we are grateful to God for protecting our home and community. It's easy to think afterward that the preparations were all a waste of time but the water in the Gulf is so hot this year we have plenty of evidence from Rita and Katrina what storms could do. I think a whole new generation of folks along the Gulf Coast have now learned that lesson, between what happened in the past month and all the storms the past year in Florida.

Hurricane Rita Update 3

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 23:49:26 GMT

As Rita has tracked more to the north or east (depending on how you look at it), our forecast has continued to improve, though hurricane force winds are still expected in the Houston area tonight. Things don't look nearly as bad as they did 48 hours ago. Today I have heard many reports from folks who tried to evacuate. Some just came back. Of those who did make it somewhere, the figure of about 11 hours on the road came up repeatedly. I think that worked out to about 8 hours getting out of Houston and 3 more to get somewhere.

I think our family is about as well-prepared as we could be, within reason. I was debating whether to still try to put our van in the garage, since I knew we'd have to move a lot of stuff and it would still be a tight fit, but Susan wanted to, so the boys and I spent most of the day emptying that out and cramming the rest of the stuff to the sides.

Emptying the garage and the yard was a worthwhile exercise, except for one problem. If there was ever a time for me to be motivated to throw out something, it's now. Unfortunately, I can't throw anything away, really, right now. Even all the garbage and recycling that wasn't picked up yesterday had to be crammed back in the garage.

Getting our Express van to fit was also an interesting exercise. I had to push up the garage door higher than usual and fasten it there. With that done, at first it looked like it was going to fit under the garage door frame, just barely. But then our son noticed that it was going to go up some more when the back wheels came in.

Our neighbor who is a mechanic told us to let out most of the air in the rear tires, and that was almost enough. I finally took the molding off the top of the garage door frame and it got through. I think I'll reattach the molding with screws in case I need to do that again. It's nice to at least know we can get the van in there; if we were facing a category 5 storm I'd be real concerned about that!

I finally got everything inside about 4:30, and took a shower and rested for a while. Susan has been cooking the last 2 days all the stuff that might be hard to keep if the power went off. I'm going to go eat and then see about storing up more water (filling tubs, etc.). I've already done some of that, but we could use a lot of water with our sizable family.

While the weather has gradually gotten windier all day, it still hasn't really rained here. Hopefully it won't be too bad here and any service disruptions will be short. We've spent nearly all week getting ready for this storm!

Hurricane Rita Update 2

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:21:33 GMT

Last night, I wasn't really sure I'd get to write another update before Rita made landfall, but this morning the news was considerably more encouraging. We live on the southwest side of Houston, and Rita's projected track has moved from Matagorda Bay to now north of Galveston. That lessens the chance of a direct hit in our area.

Also encouraging was its steady slowing during the day, in contrast to its steady strengthening Wednesday. A lot of people from our area who had planned to leave either changed their mind or came back because the traffic was so horrible (some drove for 8 hours or more, until low on gas, and then turned around and got home in under an hour, before they no longer had enough gas to get home).

It's obvious there will be some lessons learned, just as in New Orleans. For years the big concern here has been that folks would not heed the evacuation warnings. In the wake of Katrina, it seemed that even a lot of people that didn't really need to evacuate did, and the roads were so jammed that folks near the coast could hardly get out. Some were saying that it was the largest evacuation in U.S. history.

I was amazed they were still recommending that people evacuate, not just the low-lying areas, but apparently anywhere, if they felt uncomfortable staying, when you could obviously see on the news all day how the freeways were completely jammed, and people were running out of gas after driving all night. I heard stories of people evacuating TO places others were evacuating FROM.

Wednesday night things were looking pretty bad and I was starting to seriously consider evacuating, but that was clearly not an option today, regardless of what the forecast had been. I had thought I could take back roads, etc., but folks were saying that on most any route you'd encounter a huge jam-up after just a few miles.

Today we boarded up nearly all our windows. I'm hoping this is overdoing it, but we had already gotten the plywood and we'll mark and save all the boards, which should make doing it much easier if there's a next time.

Someone also emailed around a link to a good hurricane preparedness site, Captain Tropic's Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness. See especially the page on gable end bracing. He says that the gables (vertical wall areas of the roof) often get pushed in at the bottom and then the roof can fail. The fix he recommends is pretty simple and apparently could make a big difference.

Hurricane Rita Update

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 05:16:24 GMT

All day long every time I checked the news Rita had sped up by another 10 mph. They are saying it has probably peaked, at 175 mph, and will likely gradually weaken, but it is making me consider much more seriously the possibility of leaving.

The folks being ordered to evacuate (Zones A to C, see last post) are because of storm surge. As far as I can tell, no one inland is being told to evacuate because of potential wind damage (though obviously this would be an issue right on the coast, where storm surge is also critical).

Nevertheless, I am getting more concerned about how well houses will hold up with the potential wind. We live about 45 miles from the coast, which is usually enough to be more or less OK (unless in a flood zone).

We also live just two blocks from a major evacuation route, so the highway has been bumper to bumper all afternoon and was still that way at 10:00, when I came home from the store, another way. The store actually still had a lot of stuff; it was the Burger King and all the other fast food restaurants on the highway that were running out. I guess all those folks who were evacuating had to get dinner somewhere.

I measured all the windows this evening and we'll be putting up boards in the morning, and moving around a lot of stuff to get it inside and to clear our garage for our cars (or maybe just car, if we decide to leave). Thursday afternoon we'll probably make a decision. If we go, we'll likely go west, not north, where the roads are often jammed even when there isn't a hurricane, especially since it's forecast to curve northward. I wonder, though, how far we'd have to go to get some motel rooms.

Hurricane??

Wed, 21 Sep 2005 05:18:52 GMT

Today you could see the Houston area start to gear up for a possible hurricane, Rita. It's been pretty quiet for the last few years (thanks, Florida) so it's been a while since people have really gotten into the drill, but it's the same sequence as I remember.

Warnings and voluntary evacuations were started today; Wednesday morning they will be evacuating nursing homes on Galveston Island, and after 6 pm you won't be able to drive onto the Island, when mandatory evacuations start.

Folks here have been planning for hurricanes for years, and do a trial run every year with all the emergency people. Evacuations are divided into three zones, with Zone A (island and coastal areas) tomorrow. Zone B (a few miles inland) will likely follow Thursday, and Zone C (further inland and near the ship channel) may become mandatory.

Most of Houston and its suburbs are far enough inland to where we shouldn't need to evacuate - which is why Houston started to grow a lot more after the 1900 storm hit Galveston; the opening of Houston's ship channel in 1914 and the fierce 1915 storm sealed the deal. Galveston's population is no more now, I think, than it was in 1900.

There's only been one major hurricane, Alicia in 1983, to hit Houston in the past 40 years, and that storm was a fairly modest category 3 storm, so authorities have been warning for years we need to take a big storm very seriously. The TV news showed computer estimates of what areas around town would look like with a strong storm (and storm surge) and nearly all of Galveston Island and some low-lying areas would be under water. Fortunately, because of Katrina, warnings are being taken very seriously, perhaps more than they would have been otherwise.

This morning I went to buy some plywood, to board up most of our windows. I figured they would be running out by the afternoon, which apparently happened. This evening I saw a truck with particle board, which I guess was all they could get. As the storm has strengthened, I think I'll go back and get some 2x4s tomorrow if I can, just in case I need to strengthen something in the attic. I'm not sure I could do much, since it's not easy to get around ours, but I think it's a prudent investment, just in case.

I remember seeing a show about Florida homes that had almost no bracing in their attic. Ours has a fair amount, including some the Florida houses sorely lacked, but maybe I will look into that on the internet, to see how to spot a potential weakness.

In past hurricane scares, stores were pretty much jammed up and depleted within about 48 hours. This time, things seem to be running about a day ahead of that, so we'll also need to figure on getting groceries tomorrow, if that's not too late (the storm is forecast to make landfall late Friday night). I was going to get gas this evening, but the station was all jammed up. Actually, this prompted a new thought - the way stations are built nowadays, gas "lines", if it came to that, might become "gridlock" instead.

Hopefully the storm will quiet down and go somewhere else, but it's amazing how with all the busy-ness of life your mind still calms down and starts going through the list of stuff to do when a storm like this emerges.

Update; Katrina Efforts

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 03:50:12 GMT

I've been neglecting LightSide lately, working on my other blogs (listed at right). Actually, blogging is a lot of fun! I've got a lot more I want to do on the internet, including putting a bunch of my research stuff online, but much of that will require hosted sites. I've been checking into various hosting plans lately and it doesn't look too bad, so I'm hoping to make that jump before long.

There's always a million things to do around here, so we haven't tried to volunteer toward hurricane relief efforts. Actually, they've had to turn away volunteers at some places. We did gather a couple of large bags of clothes to donate (with a big family, that's something we do fairly regularly), but then it turned out they had already received enough, so we'll take them to the collection at church on Sunday.

In any case, Houston is really abuzz with Katrina relief activity, though when I drove by the Astrodome this afternoon, things looked like they were getting back to normal. In fact, they're saying it's kind of turning into its own little city (I hope sociologists will study what happens; it could be very interesting).

I've been very impressed with how the city has responded. There are reportedly 5,000 folks staying even way over in our county, on the other side from Louisiana. Houston is the kind of place where people routinely take the initiative to make things happen, so it's well-suited to spearheading an effort like this. We may be housing close to a quarter million people, according to some reports.

There are all kinds of efforts going on. For example, Susan got an email tonight asking for volunteers to help sort quilts that have been sent in. One of the top quilt conventions in the world (quilting's resurgent popularity has made it a big business in recent years) takes place here every fall, and the company running it here has been inundated, with 300 quilts so far, and more on the way! That's amazing considering how much work goes into a handmade quilt. The irony is the convention itself is in danger, as it's scheduled for late October in the Brown Convention Center, which is now housing thousands of evacuees.

The encouraging thing is that, according to news reports, a lot of folks seem to want to get out of the dome or convention centers as quickly as possible. If the oil companies here will finally start hiring (how high does oil have to go?!!), then maybe there will be plenty of jobs for those who want to stay. Besides that, I got an email today saying that Fluor was looking for 300 people to work a 30 day job in Baton Rouge, processing paperwork, for $19/hour plus housing and overtime. I bet there will be a lot of things like that opening up.