Osler's Razor

It is great of you to take in a family. Port Arthur got hit pretty hard. The one news report I heard mentioned that the power was out in P.A., but the power poles were still intact. This makes it easier for the crews to get things up and running again. They will start in that area since that's where the refineries are. You should have seen the gas lines in Durham last night. People are really in a panic.

Make sure you take some games and books to the shelter. These people may be there a while, depending on where they lived prior to Ike and their stress and anxiety levels will be out of control.
 

I've got family here with me from Houston.

News from back home is that there are tons of trees down. Not just the normal 'small' trees, but the big really old trees.

Garages and sheds just gone. And some of the news I have heard is from the Conroe area.

It was ugly and everyone is out of power. Pretty much all over the Houston area, believe the reports of '4 million' people out of power.
 

My reports come from The Woodlands. Power was out, I've heard the same "4 million" report, and that it will take three weeks or longer to get all the power grids back up and running. Several of the news stations in Houston are streaming the newscasts from their websites.

The family that I do have in The Woodlands said that some trees were down, but they weren't sure about the extent of the damage. The lower eyewall passed through North Houston at around 10:00 this morning, so they're finishing with the worst of it.
 

Professor:

Have you seen this survey by Texas Lawyer asking students to rate their law schools?
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423955454

More Wesleyan law students would attend their school again than would BLS students.

What gives?
 

1. I have a new house. If anyone from TX wants to stay in OR for a while they are welcome!!
Osler knows where to find me. We still don't have a lot of furniture but...

2. I have never been thru a hurricane. But when my house blew up what I worried @ the most, oddly,that first night was not having any kids books to read to. Spencer before bed. Maybe bring some kids stuff and some soft blankies etc to the shelter. Reading to kids is comforting to them.
 

I actually haven't heard all that much about Port Arthur. My family is in Bridge City, Orangefield, and Groves, so most of the updates I have are from that area. Bridge City is in terrible shape. My parent's house was under at least 4 feet of water. Some areas of Orangefield are okay and only had wind damage. The only thing we know about Groves is that there wasn't that much flooding. I've been trying to keep updates posted on my blog.

Here's a place that seems to have some updates and photos of southeast Texas: kogt.com
 

Directly behind the gentleman in the picture is the building where I lived while I was clerking for the Fifth Circuit. And the building in front and to the right of the gentleman is the Chase tower, where I entered the tunnels to walk to the courthouse every weekday morning for a year. Down the street to the gentelman's left is a great Italian restaurant called Little Napoli, and further down the street is an Episcopal Cathedral that was founded in the newly-declared Republic of Texas.

This is quite a reminder of the importance of community.