Carol is OK

HighwayAndPond, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

In response to the small plane that hit an office building earlier today in Austin, I’m just posting this to let everybody know that I’m OK. I was traveling at the time of the crash and I was in the vicinity of the crash, but I was not directly involved. It missed me. (Phew! Dodged another one.)

There’s a lot about this on the news-Austin is making national news today. For those of you who don’t know (or haven’t heard yet) a small plane crashed into an office building in North Austin, near the intersection of Highway 183 and Loop 360 (very near where I work.) Not everybody in the building has been accounted for and the building (at last update) is still on fire. No word yet on motives, it was assumed to be an accident last I heard though they are, obviously, still investigating the incident. The plane had taken off from Georgetown airport (north of where I live) and crashed into the Echelon 1 building, which is home to Keller Williams real estate and several smaller offices. It is very near (really at) the intersection of highways 183 and Loop 360 (Capitol of Texas Highway.) I was traveling south on highway 183 at the time of the crash, though I was further out, in the vicinity of Lakeline Mall, when it happened. Luckily, I heard about the crash on the radio and managed to avoid the area, diverting over to Highway 620 and FM 2222 instead.

In response to the incident, highway 183 was closed briefly and traffic was very backed up. I’ve taken to using 620 as an alternate, even though it’s a bit longer and takes me around the lake. I’m sure this is going to be a mess tonight, as Loop 1 (also called Mopac) is one of the major commuter highways in Austin and the accident happened very near the intersections of Loop 1, Highway 183 and Loop 360 (it’s a cloverleaf in case you can’t follow that logic.) This is one of the busiest intersections in Austin and closing it down during rush hour, I’m sure, will take its toll on Austin drivers though, it goes without saying really, our hearts all go out to anybody who was injured or killed in the crash this morning.

Apologies for the lack of a “real” blog post today and, yes, I know it’s strange for me to be posting in the middle of the day, but I wanted to post to let everybody know what’s happening and keep everybody up-to-date. Sorry, but it’s easier than calling each and every one of you to let you know that I’m safe and sound.

Back to our regularly scheduled blog tomorrow.

Until next time…