This is a picture of the Highway 59 South feeder road at Sugar Creed Blvd., where the Rodriguez family sought shelter in a hotel to weather Hurricane Rita. We were on our way to Cuero, Texas, to suprise my buddy Rudy Rocha, but there was no way I was going to sit in gridlock for 20+ hours to travel 200 miles. On this trip, Perla, Madelyn and I were walking back from an open Blimpie Subs and were quite taken aback by the amount of drivers that asked us if we needed help. Blimpie managed to feed my family for three starving days in Sugar Land...
Our residence for the weekend, the Hearthside Extended Stay Suites. We were planning on heading to San Antonio with my wife's family, but after seeing the gridlock on the roads, I opted to keep our family overnight one more day, as I felt it was too soon to make any decisions on evacuation. This unpopular decision caused much stress, but it proved to be wise. On Thursday morning, after watching the news all night and resting (and arguing), we headed down to Cuero, but on the Beltway, and at 2.5 hours we hit 59 South, which was jam-packed with vehicles, spotted the hotel and begged for the only room available. Total cost for the weekend: $113.00
The worst "damage" occurred at my in-laws house in La Porte, Texas, where the front-yard tree was blown over. Otherwise, part of our fence fell down and the rest of the damage was minimal (branches). We were spared. Here, Madelyn surveys the damage at her Grandparents house and wonders what could have been...
Many lessons were learned in this ordeal, but the greatest I could find is that patience and information are truly virtues. Without either, prudent decisions that could save lives could not be made..
