Hurricane Rita. Uhoh.

I just found out my older brother Dean and his six kids are trapped in Houston and they can't get out. I thought they were already safe. They've boarded up the house and are going to have to wait it out. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depends on how you look at it, his wife is in Boise, ID right now.

Traffic is not moving, the gas stations are empty, and cars are just running out of gas on the highway. People are just turning around and heading back home. He decided not to risk running out of gas in a minivan with six kids in it.

Positives: They live on the higher end of town, so hopefully flooding shouldn't affect them as much. Also, Houston isn't New Orleans: no levee.

So if you could pray to whatever deity you worship on behalf of my brother and his kids, I'd appreciate it.

The really scary part is knowing that we won't hear from him for days to know if he's okay. Here's hoping we've learned something from Katrina.

Geez.