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Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 3:50:36 PM

Cribtop

Posts: 3890
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From: Lone Star Nation
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http://www.statesman.com/

Pray for us guys. Some of these fires are within 15 miles of my house and 3 miles of my folk's lake house. So far we are safe, but with 30-40 mph winds today the next fire could come anywhere and the fire departments and Texas Forest Service are strapped. The city of Bastrop to the SE is in dire trouble. We have friends in Steiner Ranch that had to evac and may have lost the house.

Sad irony is the winds are part of a cold front finally busting the heat "down" to 90F but of course no rain with it.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 3:54:29 PM

crsutton

Posts: 9590
Joined: 12/6/2002
From: Maryland
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Good luck. Going down to visit my brother in Austin next month. His lake house on Lake Travis looks like it is sitting on the Aral Sea. I was reading about the long term environmental damage of the drought. You guys will be paying for years to come.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 3:59:17 PM

zuluhour

Posts: 5244
Joined: 1/20/2011
From: Maryland
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thoughts with ya.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:01:06 PM

Chickenboy

Posts: 24520
Joined: 6/29/2002
From: San Antonio, TX
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Good luck, Cribtop. Hope the fires are brought under control soon.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:05:54 PM

Shark7

Posts: 7937
Joined: 7/24/2007
From: The Big Nowhere
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

http://www.statesman.com/

Pray for us guys. Some of these fires are within 15 miles of my house and 3 miles of my folk's lake house. So far we are safe, but with 30-40 mph winds today the next fire could come anywhere and the fire departments and Texas Forest Service are strapped. The city of Bastrop to the SE is in dire trouble. We have friends in Steiner Ranch that had to evac and may have lost the house.

Sad irony is the winds are part of a cold front finally busting the heat "down" to 90F but of course no rain with it.

We had it earlier this year, I know what you are going through. I had fire within 4 blocks of my house and 1 block from my mother's house. Our fire department did an incredible job of stopping that wildfire and we didn't lose a single structure.

For reference I was out of town when it started and you could see the smoke from 50 miles away as I headed back (I work for emergency services, so I was called back to town...everyone was called in).

We'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers Cribtop.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:06:10 PM

LST Express

Posts: 571
Joined: 3/1/2005
From: Texas
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It's been a summer to remember, thats for sure.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:14:23 PM

SargeantTex

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Yea they can have long term effects but here in Texas we never know what tommorow will bring Texas has a history of rainy winters and unpredictable floods its likely that this winter we could have 72 hour periods of steady sprinkes has happened many times before and next spring could have steady rain periods. You can almost never predict Texas weather we have extreme droughts one yr then too much rain the next!!!

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:15:38 PM

seille

Posts: 2134
Joined: 6/19/2007
From: Germany
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And in Germany we had this summer three times the normal amount of rain.
Good luck, Cribtop.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:23:52 PM

xnavytc

Posts: 243
Joined: 1/28/2010
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yeah Crib, getting close here in Temple just north of Austin, fires in mother neff park (waco) just north of us and in pfluggerville south of us, getting closer everday. went to pfluggerville to help the fire department down there, (volunteer). was bad, and today the winds are just as strong.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:34:22 PM

oldman45

Posts: 2320
Joined: 5/1/2005
From: Jacksonville Fl
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Just remember to bug out if they tell ya to, nothing material is worth getting hurt over.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:43:15 PM

captskillet

Posts: 2493
Joined: 3/1/2003
From: Louisiana & the 2007 Nat Champ LSU Fightin' Tigers
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I hear you cribtop, I'm up here in NW La (Shreveport) and its just as bad. Caddo Lake on TX/LA border NW of me is at at an all-time low, my boat there is sitting on mud. Got an Uncle in Baytown TX and he has lost 2 or 3 live oaks and his pond is dried up......................cousin in Leander and yes Lake Travis is going away............I hate to say it but we need on of those tropical systems to come through here and dump a bunch of water............worst 1 year drought in Texas history combined with record high temps and this summer has been brutal.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:49:39 PM

Canoerebel

Posts: 21100
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From: Northwestern Georgia, USA
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I thought things were bad here in Georgia, but you Texicans are really pulling tough duty this year. Good luck Cribtop and all the rest. I hope the winter will be good to you, with the pendulum not swinging too far the other way.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 4:59:14 PM

DOCUP

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Cribtop and the other Texans good luck to yall. Stay safe down there.

doc

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 5:00:00 PM

Shark7

Posts: 7937
Joined: 7/24/2007
From: The Big Nowhere
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quote:

ORIGINAL: SargeantTex

Yea they can have long term effects but here in Texas we never know what tommorow will bring Texas has a history of rainy winters and unpredictable floods its likely that this winter we could have 72 hour periods of steady sprinkes has happened many times before and next spring could have steady rain periods. You can almost never predict Texas weather we have extreme droughts one yr then too much rain the next!!!

3 years ago we had 16" of rain in about 12 hours...end result was a 100 year flood. I'm not even in the flood plain and I had water over the curb and into my yard.

As the saying goes... In Texas if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes and it will change.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 5:30:36 PM

ilovestrategy

Posts: 3611
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From: San Diego
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quote:

ORIGINAL: captskillet

I hear you cribtop, I'm up here in NW La (Shreveport) and its just as bad. Caddo Lake on TX/LA border NW of me is at at an all-time low, my boat there is sitting on mud. Got an Uncle in Baytown TX and he has lost 2 or 3 live oaks and his pond is dried up......................cousin in Leander and yes Lake Travis is going away............I hate to say it but we need on of those tropical systems to come through here and dump a bunch of water............worst 1 year drought in Texas history combined with record high temps and this summer has been brutal.

I grew up right next to Shreveport, near Greenwood at the Texas border. I remember burning my hands getting mail out of the metal mailbox for my mom and seeing icicles on the same mail box in the winter.

We get fires here in San Diego too. About 4 years ago the sky was brown here for a week. Took 6 months to clear the ash at the school I work at. I think it was some guy not putting out a campfire.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 6:37:17 PM

GreyJoy

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Good luck Texans

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 6:56:55 PM

Rebel Yell

Posts: 470
Joined: 6/21/2003
From: The Woodlands, TX USA
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God bless and keep you, neighbor. Hang in there.

I've been near Houston since 94, but lived in the great city of Austin from 81-94 and miss it to this day.

< Message edited by Rebel Yell -- 9/5/2011 6:57:10 PM >

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 7:45:55 PM

Cribtop

Posts: 3890
Joined: 8/10/2008
From: Lone Star Nation
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Thanks guys. Here's an update:

- The only fire anywhere near my house is now out, so barring a new fire springing up we are in the clear. Just in case we packed up the essentials (changes of clothes, stuff for the baby and the dogs, computers, iPads, wedding pictures and guns [hey, in Texas those are essential

]). Our friends had 10 minutes to evacuate and if our time comes we won't be caught flat footed. We're as ready as we can be so I'm of course going to crank out a turn to Cuttlefish later.

- My Parents' lake house is ok for now. They are in San Antonio and safe. Power is out at their lake house and the fires reached within a few yards of the golf course driving range (still more than a mile from their house). Winds are out of the north and the fire fortunately went south (fortunately for my Dad, very unfortunately for other folks, I'm afraid

). That fire is 80% contained so they may be in the clear too.

- Bastrop, SE of Austin, is in serious trouble. The fires are big enough that they twice jumped the Colorado River (not the same river as in the Western US but a very big river all the same).

- Our friends from Steiner Ranch to our West are still unable to return home, and may not have a home to return to...

< Message edited by Cribtop -- 9/5/2011 7:52:53 PM >

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 8:08:30 PM

AkomoCombine

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Yeah i got a friend of mine that can see the fire line just over the Colorado river.Houses are being evacuated 4 miles from his location near smithville.I get up to minute updates over ventrilo with him.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 8:09:42 PM

Shark7

Posts: 7937
Joined: 7/24/2007
From: The Big Nowhere
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

Thanks guys. Here's an update:

- The only fire anywhere near my house is now out, so barring a new fire springing up we are in the clear. Just in case we packed up the essentials (changes of clothes, stuff for the baby and the dogs, computers, iPads, wedding pictures and guns [hey, in Texas those are essential ]). Our friends had 10 minutes to evacuate and if our time comes we won't be caught flat footed. We're as ready as we can be so I'm of course going to crank out a turn to Cuttlefish later.

- My Parents' lake house is ok for now. They are in San Antonio and safe. Power is out at their lake house and the fires reached within a few yards of the golf course driving range (still more than a mile from their house). Winds are out of the north and the fire fortunately went south (fortunately for my Dad, very unfortunately for other folks, I'm afraid ). That fire is 80% contained so they may be in the clear too.

- Bastrop, SE of Austin, is in serious trouble. The fires are big enough that they twice jumped the Colorado River (not the same river as in the Western US but a very big river all the same).

- Our friends from Steiner Ranch to our West are still unable to return home, and may not have a home to return to...

I've learned a lesson from our fire as well. Buy some of those plastic sealable containers and keep stuff that you want but rarely look at in them (IE the photo albums, baby stuff, etc) and keep them ready to go. Keep some food and water in one (canned goods will last a while). At least one of your guns and its ammo in one (it's a Texas thing). I keep a USB HD with a backup of all my stuff on it so even if I lose the computers, I get to keep my data.

In my case it is even more important to keep stuff very easy to pack and go, since I work for the emergency services I may be out helping other people evacuate while my property is destroyed...with no chance to go back and get anything. When our town flooded, two of our employees were stuck evacuating people from flooded homes as their house filled with water...it sucks.

At least with everything ready to go, I can send a relative over to just load the cases...won't save everything, but will save what's most important.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 8:34:54 PM

Cuttlefish

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From: Oregon, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

We're as ready as we can be so I'm of course going to crank out a turn to Cuttlefish later.

This, of course, is the important take-away from your update.

Seriously, though, good luck, not only for you but your family and friends whose homes are also in danger.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 8:49:23 PM

Cruiser87

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Cribtop, I'm praying for you.

I live in Cedar Park (just NW of Austin) myself.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/5/2011 11:50:57 PM

Blackhorse

Posts: 1983
Joined: 8/20/2000
From: Eastern US
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Hang in there, Texan.

I'll be visiting Waco in October . . . I hope the rain reaches your region long before I do.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 1:53:33 AM

Don Bowen

Posts: 8183
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From: Georgetown, Texas, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

Hang in there, Texan.

I'll be visiting Waco in October . . . I hope the rain reaches your region long before I do.

We can hope for October, but the forecast for the next ten days is zero percent rain chance. Times 10 days that's a total chance of zero.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 2:44:35 AM

Cribtop

Posts: 3890
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From: Lone Star Nation
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Yep, we could have used that Lee storm around here. Things are looking pretty good for Team Cribtop still. About 8:40pm local time and winds are predicted to really drop off at 10pm. That should help. No rain (no surprise, it's only rained 3 times since April by my count at our house).

Cribtop Sr's lake house is still in some peril. The fire out there was about contained but winds fanned it again. It's still moving away from my folks' house due to the luck of the wind direction. Another close friend may be in the line of the reinvigorated fire, unfortunately.

Texas Forest Service is out of aircraft - they are all deployed, mostly on the Bastrop fire, now at 30,000 acres and counting. We even called in a South Dakota plane (thanks S. Dakotans!). A new fire in far NW Austin (town of Leander) has forced another 5000 evacuations on top of the 5000 in Bastrop SE of town. No idea what we can do about the new fire other than local assets. Cars were pulled back into the garage but remain loaded. Sleeping with my shorts by the bed tonight, boys!

Thanks for all your thoughts and support.

One bit of humor to close. As many may know, Austin is home to several enormous bat colonies. As one bat cave emptied of its millions of residents for nightly feeding, they were picked up on radar and caused a temporary panic of a new fire near the town of Garden Ridge. Fortunately a false alarm.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 4:13:01 AM

LST Express

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Mother nature messes with everyone, we'll get thru it and come out the other end just fine. I heard November is the best chance for rain, but who the hell knows?

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 5:08:54 AM

Cribtop

Posts: 3890
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From: Lone Star Nation
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Feeling a lot better as winds have dropped dramatically as predicted after 10pm. This reduces the chance of new fires popping up.

LST, you're right. We'll pull through!

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 6:53:07 AM

jmalter

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Cribtop
One bit of humor to close. As many may know, Austin is home to several enormous bat colonies. As one bat cave emptied of its millions of residents for nightly feeding, they were picked up on radar and caused a temporary panic of a new fire near the town of Garden Ridge. Fortunately a false alarm.

when they develop stealth-capable fire-breathing bats, we're all gonna get shredded.

my best hopes for your family & neighbors, Cribtop.

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 3:54:57 PM

mc3744

Posts: 1957
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From: Italy
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Cribtop
guns [hey, in Texas those are essential ]).

I played WitP for years with a Texan engineer from Nasa.
He has a collection of some 700 guns/rifles/machine guns!
Very nice and smart guy, collects them

I haven't heard from him in a while. I'm going to write to make sure everything is fine there.

Good luck. Very sorry to hear the troubles your are going through.

< Message edited by mc3744 -- 9/6/2011 3:55:20 PM >

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RE: Texas is burning... - 9/6/2011 7:52:36 PM

Cribtop

Posts: 3890
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From: Lone Star Nation
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I own quite a few guns, but he has me beat.

The fire near my parents' lake house is pretty much under control now. Bastrop is still out of control but that's well away from any Cribtop family structures. Hopefully we'll improve today across the board as winds have died down.

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