Friday, September 30, 2005\r\nQuick bytes of Rita \r\n\r\nBeaumont and Port Arthur are allowing citizens to return today, albeit reluctantly. Authorities in both cities would like for returnees to secure their homes, gather or refresh their necessaries, then leave again. They worry that returnees will make streets harder to travel for recovery crews and over tax critical-but-crippled infrastructure. I reckon we could start a pool now on how many roof-falls, chainsaw-wounds, double-pane glass slices, and heat strokes will wander into our short-staffed emergency rooms by Monday. Pick a high number and you\'ll win this here small can of Vienna Sausages that will never expire ...\r\n\r\nWe\'re seeing lights in some parts of town, but the vast majority of the city is powerless, literally. Among the first things to be illuminated? The world\'s third-largest fire hydrant at the Fire Museum of Texas, and the former red-light district-turned-uptown fun spot, Crockett Street ...\r\n\r\nAnother really dazzling light show could be seen last night in the night sky, a meteor shower. If you simply looked up, past all the wreckage of this temporary settlement of Beaumont, you might have caught an ancient spectacle of heavenly light. From this safer distance, it was a beautiful reminder of the same natural chaos that we saw last Saturday ...\r\n\r\nThe stench of rotting food is starting to drift through the neighborhoods as returnees clean out their freezers and fridges. The city tells us not to watch for the garbageman anytime soon, and has set up some drop-off points for decaying meat, pizzas, etc. ...\r\n\r\nFun with rubble! I patched a broken window this morning with a piece of my demolished fence, and used the remnant chlorinated water in my pool to soak plastic food-storage containers from my unexpectedly thawed freezer. It occurs to me that a resourceful bubba might be able to build a really opulent hunting cabin from Rita\'s debris ...\r\n\r\nHey, today it\'s official: Only two more months in the hurricane season!\r\n\r\nposting from\r\nhttp://underthenews.blogspot.com/\r\n