We're sitting tight...
I had a very, very tough choice to make, and the one I chose was to call my insurance broker and put a not-in-motion policy on the brand new, ready to fly (but not inspected!) -8, cross my fingers, and pray. I not only had to deal with shutting down Mission Control and getting eveyrone out safely, but I am one of the senior officers in our local fire department, so once I got Work squared away, I had to move into my other role.
The RV-8 is in a decent hangar, 44 feet above sea level, and it looks right now like Rita is going to hit down the coast far enough that we will see high tropical storm winds right here on the south side of Houston. I can only hope. It's insured for what I have in it - materials-wise, not sweat and emotion. Not much I can do about that now. We are working to get all the people out of the way of the storm first.
For those interested (and I know there are many RV owners in Houston, and I hope you are getting in a safe posture!), the county emergency plan has all of us staffing our local fire and EMS posts until it appears that we are going to get overwhelmed, at which time we retreat to the Astrodome with our apparatus, to preserve our capability to serve after the storm has passed. That is when the real work begins!
At least in this position, I will be able to get back into the area and see how the hangar survived before most people. I have the four-wheeled RV parked squarely in front of the hangar doors as a debris block.
In the Fire Service, we have the equipment, training, and protection to ride out a storm like this - as well as a plan, communications, and resources. If there is anyone in the path of Rita that is contemplating riding it out on their own, please reconsider, unless you have all of the above in your favor.
Good luck to everyone on the Texas coast!
Paul F. Dye
Nassau Bay Volunteer Fire Department
RV-8 owner - now and in the future - you gotta have faith!