A co-worker and members of his family have escaped Houston and are now in Austin.

Family from my father's side, as of last night, were not so successful. I'll know more when my dad calls this evening. My mother and I spoke last evening and she said they were essentially stranded around Katy, hardly outside Houston at all.

But really driving the point home is this: the friend I've known the longest is actually heading down there tonight. He works for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a state jailer. He'd normally be off for the next four days but he's been recalled for duty over the weekend to help out with prisoner evacuations. The Carol S. Young Medical Facility in Dickinson; the Clemens Unit in Brazoria; the Hospital Galveston Unit in Galveston; the Gist State Jail in Beaumont; the LeBlanc Unit in Beaumont; Jester III Unit in Richmond; the Terrell Unit in Rosharon; and the Wayne Scott Unit in Angleton are all being evacuated.

You be safe out there, Shawn. You know what to do when the shit hits the fan.