Hurricanes, floods, hail … now fire!
All the yellow, orange, and green spots are various fires, and the quince flower is where we are. We got a lot of wind but no rain with Hurricane Lee, which made landfall in Louisiana and went east. The fires were made much worse by all the wind, and the fact that it basically hasn’t rained here in a year. I completely freaked out when I found out about them and was getting all set to evacuate. Once I realized that they were not actually heading toward us, I calmed down. It has been amazingly difficult to get information (or accurate information). The Weather Underground web site, for example, has staunchly insisted that we were having winds of 1 mile per hour even as the fire reports said the winds were 25-35 mph. Fortunately, the wind is gone, so I hope they will start to be able to contain these fires.
The large fire to the east of us started in the Lost Pines, which is a stand of loblolly pines which are the remnants of pine forest which covered much of Texas during the Ice Age. All but 100 of 6000 acres have burned. I suppose there have been wildfires there before so I hope it will come back. Here’s a video of how fast the fire spread.
Finally! A site that offers cross-stitch products that I actually want to have in my home after I've had the fun of stitching them. I haven't stitched in years because I never wanted the end product. No problem with that here . . . now the problem is choosing what I want to do next.
From Cecilia
13 years, 2 months agoGosh, what tough conditions! I was just in Austin this summer and can attest to no rain and the unbelievable heat. Hope they can somehow contain these fires. Take care
From Julie
13 years, 2 months agoStay safe. I have a cousin in Georgetown and after seeing your post, I’m going to reach out to him to make sure they are all OK, too.
I think Georgetown has not been hit (yet) so I hope your cousin is safe. Many people have been evacuated and/or lost their homes. I just saw that about 1400 homes have been lost now in Bastrop County. Many people evacuating couldn’t take their pets and left them with the animal shelter in Bastrop, which then had to be evacuated, and the animals have now been moved to the Austin Humane Society, where they will be kept until they can be reconnected with their owners. That would make me crazy, coming on top of everything else.
From Cindy
13 years, 2 months agoBest wishes to you. I hope you get some rain soon.