Vortex

Jim and I went out with the dog in the tail end of Ike this morning and got separated. I toured the building with other residents to check on flooding and neighbors.

Todd & Jim's Vortex

Jim and dog Zoe went out briefly. With others trying to clear flooding on the first floor (from the flooded garage) Jim and fellow resident Todd took on other tasks. Jim hooked up a hose and suctioned water from the first floor of the garage to the street.

The street was blocked because of storm drains so anyone leaving the building would get stuck. So they cleaned out storm drains on both sides of our street so that the flood levels would go down. Photo is of Todd’s vortex at the foot of our garage.

Thanks, volunteers! All day today in between real news were newscasters – talking heads – claiming how we’re all going to get through this “together.” Yesterday it was all death and destruction and standing in compromised positions on the Galveston shore while lecturing residents to evacuate now!

Today it’s lectures about their local network’s stance on togetherness and neighborliness, while the police are enforcing curfews to stop looting. Stay indoors, off the roads, even if you have no power or water or means to flush the toilet and you have family members camping out at your home.

When neighbors get out there on their own, while staff is home protecting their own families, that’s neighborliness and doing things together (not taking credit or getting a raise or move to a better market share) just to do the right thing.

Science question: If the hurricane was counter-clockwise, how come the vortex is clockwise? Jim the physicist says it’s not possible and all I have to do is flush the toilet to check. Because below the equator water/storms drain one way, and above is the opposite direction. And I’m not going to flush because Jim will have to go back to the pool and get more water!

Test this theory: Todd is a lawyer and maybe he twisted the mind of the water to drain in the wrong direction…. Love you guys, Todd and Terri!!!