I had moved to Houston two weeks before Hurricane Katrina. Having worked at a thrift store and food bank which serviced many evacuees, I was very sensitive to the weather reports. The people with whom I was living were also carefully watching the weather reports and making plans for evacuation. As the storm came closer, the expected course of the storm would have the "Dirty" side of the hurricane would becoming at category 4 right over our house.

The day of the storm, I had stopped in at the library and stopped at Kroger for gas. Route 6 (my normal commute) was bumper to bumper heading towards the Intersates and the gas station was full. While I waited my turn, someone came up to my window to tell me regular gas was all sold-out. I filled up and went home and we started prepping for the evacuation. Our plan was to leave around 2am and follow the FM roads to Dallas and wait out the storm.

We packed everything in the bathroom after taking pictures for insurance. Our cars were packed with essentials, and the young kids were put to bed while the grown ups snacked on perishables and drank margaritas. (Ritas with Rita, we called them.) Early the next morning we got into our cars and started driving north. By then the beltways and both major interstates were parking lots. We got onto FM roads early and ducked back and forth across I-40 up to Centerville. When we got on the Interstate again, we passed cars and vans either in wrecks, out of gas, over heated, or just pulled off the road so the driver could sleep. The weekend was uneventful, and the only damage we received was pine needles on the front lawn and our welcome mat had been folded in half.