Just recieved:

To Employees:

The City of Houston has begun preparations for Tropical Storm Edouard, which is expected to arrive along the Texas Coast during the early morning hours of Tuesday August 5th. Due to the expected intensity and nature of the storm, Mayor Bill White has determined that some non-emergency city services will be suspended.

Mayor Bill White directs that *only* those employees designated as “essential personnel” report for business on Tuesday August 5.

All City of Houston employees should monitor media (local radio and television) and follow departmental communications plans to determine when to report to work.

We will continue to monitor conditions throughout the day and night and expect to have further updates as warranted.

Meanwhile, supervisors are encouraged to review the City’s Administrative Procedures 2-3, pertaining to Severe Weather and other Emergency Conditions.

Employees should check with their supervisors to confirm their designation as “essential personnel” and “non-essential personnel.”

Bill White,
Mayor

So it looks like the Mayor’s decided that discretion is the better part of common sense, and will side with Brendan. Given his (Brendan’s) point about setting the tone for other employers, I suppose it’s the right decision but damn, Wednesday is going to suck, and the public is going to be down on us… especially if they work for employers that insisted they show up.

Can’t win for losing.

Update: Oh, for crying out loud. This is EXACTLY the sort of thing I am talking about when I say hype. Is Monica pulling my leg? Consensus is, yes. Edit: and on second reading, I agree. Nice satire. But show that to 1000 people, and at least one will go, “Well, I better leave too!”

Update: Heh. So much for not in the cards. Can I retroactively change that to “Not in the cards 24 hours before a wobbly tropical storm hits Houston . . . maybe?” But guys, on this blog, I’m part Emperor Darth Misha, and I carried it over to my comments on Brendan’s site. if you really want to see me go off on someone for hyping, look here. And read the message after. (Edit: quoting here:)

This sums it all up to me:
Galveston Not Evacuating

If they are not evacuating Galveston Island how serious can the storm be????
Yes use some “ common sense “ but as I wrote before, people up here in Spring have emptied the store shelves of water and we are at least 60 miles north of Galveston Island, crazy??

The small arrow is Galveston, the large one is Spring. For scale, the I-610 loop is elven miles across, east to west.