God save our city

Most of us think hurricanes are what happen to other people, not us. Sure, they are all over the news - but its just news. A few minutes of sensationalistic nailbiting, some hasty prayers for friends in the area, and that's it.

Its hard to understand the depth of what one can do to you, until reality hits. My town which took in over 100,000 Katrina evacuees last month is now an evacuee city itself. The residents, self included, who didn't fully grasp the magnitude of Katrina but donated money/food nonetheless, are now facing the other side of reality. We too, are evacuees now, seeking shelter where we can find.

Hurricane Rita is approaching my beloved town and I'm praying - hard. Fled north to Dallas yesterday. Felt paranoid and silly fleeing at noon, when my coworkers were still working. But didn't want to take any chances with a child in tow.

A dear friend in Dallas offered to give us shelter, and we took it up. The journey to Dallas that normally takes 4.5 hours took 7 hrs and 15 mins - 3 hrs to exit my city itself in the growing traffic.

Took the tollway that loops around the city, inched through some sections of it. The toll agents waved us all through, no need for tolls. Midway, police cars halted us all, to allow some 50-60 buses to go through. May have been for the Katrina evacuees still in the city shelters, or to evacuate patients, I don't know.

At around 6:30 pm, while approaching Dallas, a friend in my town called asking where we were. When I told her we were some 30 miles from Dallas, she said we were fortunate. Apparently, traffic had gotten so bad, people couldn't get out anymore. Those in the south side were trying to go north, and those in the north who weren't worried initially began to merge into the freeways after Rita reached Category 5.

Have left home with a trunkful of food and drink (in case we got stranded midway), a small suitcase of clothes to last 2-3 days, and our ID documents. Left everything else, including my daughter's baby albums. Don't know if we'll have a home to go back to, if things'll still be standing. Don't know if Kamala's school will be standing either. We were glad to get out, glad to have a familiar place to stay. Thankful to God for what we have and worried that others may not have this. Mentally preparing myself that when we go back there may not be anything. I look back at everything I did recently, and feel silly. You buy stuff - clothes, possessions, and pride yourself on that. But one hurricane can take away everything.

Tried to reach friends until midnight, and the cellphone/phonelines were overloaded. Praying for everyone, and praying hard. A friend is still stranded on the freeway, having traveled 30 miles in the last 6 hours, having shut off the A/C to save gasoline in the 100 degree plus heat. He doesn't know where he's headed, but thinks he may be able to find a hotel to stay in Oklahoma, provided he can reach there in the next 18 hours or so. Mark, I'm praying for you.

This morning I realized - in my haste to flee, I had forgotten to pack some essentials, including a comb. For the first time probably ever, found myself at a Walmart with uncombed hair, a crumpled T-shirt thrown over dress pants (because the only pair of shoes I had were dress shoes you see), shopping for a comb. And I used to think I'm someone who wouldn't be caught dead looking unkempt.

Sort of comic, the image one has of oneself - and the changing realities that alter these images.