Did you know you could fly

Please keep the folks of South Louisiana in your thoughts as Isaac pounds New Orleans on this the 7th anniversary of Katrina.

Because, after all, this is South Louisiana, the home of jazz funerals, and the default response to practically any tragedy is to have fun with it:
( hurricane humour )

Well, there are more trees down after Ike, and even more debris piled up. But at least it doesn't look like there are any new power outages. It is very strange, however, driving through *my* city and seeing all the FEMA-blue rooftops I have always associated with New Orleans after Katrina. Please, whatever gods may be listening, no more hurricanes this season? I can't take anymore.

Looks like Ike is going to hit Texas, not Louisiana. Sorry, Texas, but at least it isn't us again! Don't think I could handle another hurricane right after Gustav.

Good news: current models have Ike headed more towards Texas (sorry, Texas). Bad news: it's all still very much up in the air, it could still hit us, and conditions in the Gulf make it likely it will be a stronger storm than Gustav when it does.

Per whitecrow0's request, this is to let you know that the kitties came through the storm just fine. They freaked a little with all the winds, and mostly hid under furniture, except for Fiona, who kept following me around and begging to be held and trembling. Poor thing was traumatized. But she's back to her cheerful self now, and I think they like having me home most of the time lately. I think they're dealing with the lack of air conditioning better than I am, and they have plenty of food and fresh water. So they're good :)

So Gustav downgraded to a category 2 overnight, and seems like it shifted a bit further west, all good things for me. From what I can tell from satellite the eye is making landfall around Houma, LA, right about now. I'm in the middle of one of the outer bands. It's raining, but not coming down too hard. There's about 3 inches of standing water in our parkinglot, but we get that with bad thunderstorms here. And the trees are whipping about every 30 seconds or so when a strong gust comes through. However, I still have power, obviously, and the apartment itself isn't shaking the way it did in Katrina. At least not yet. It'll probably get worse as the eye makes its way up here.

Ok, just a note to let y'all know that I made it back home safe and sound, and am all holed up and prepared for the duration. I'll be online for the next few hours, probably. It's raining a little now, but nothing really bad yet. The radio said we should start to see the first major effects around midnight here, and I figure I'll probably lose power soon after, so after that I'll just send updates as I can. Here's hoping I get through as well as I did in Katrina. Please keep *everyone* on the Gulf Coast in your prayers tonight.

Well, current predictions now have Gustav hitting Louisiana Tuesday morning instead of Monday, which means my flight home this weekend might actually happen as scheduled. Of course, I'll be flying into Louisiana at the same time that everyone else will probably be trying to get out, but that's ok :) Looks like if everything goes as expected I'll actually be home for the event after all. I know I shouldn't feel better about being in the path of a hurricane instead of safely out of it, but I'm not really anticipating any major damage where I live, and I'd rather be around to keep an eye on things.

When I first heard about it two days ago, it was still a tropical storm and wasn't even to Haiti yet. Yesterday, folks were talking about it, and this morning I get an email reminder to sign up for the university's emergency text messaging system. Yes, folks, it's official. A hurricane is in the Gulf and Louisiana is on alert. It would be almost funny if it weren't so serious.

Years of having the Big One pass them by had made Louisianans rather blasé about hurricanes. They happened every year, after all. Then Katrina hit, and so many were unprepared, myself included. The first I heard about Katrina was when my parents called me on Saturday morning. Ok, so I'm not much of a news person or I would have heard earlier, but the point is, no one was even really talking about it on Friday. Then Saturday came and folks started to realise it might actually hit us this time. I got about four or five calls Saturday from friends and family, so I would have figured it out by then, but of course, when you're talking real preparation, that was way too late. Saturday afternoon I went out and bought a case of bottled water and some batteries and that was about the extent of my preparation (it was significant, I think, that I obtained both those items rather easily and without fuss). Of course, Baton Rouge is far enough from the coast to be pretty much safe from major flooding of the type seen in the lower parishes. I'd like to think that those in New Orleans and along the coast were paying more attention to Katrina than I was, but we all know how that turned out.

The point is, if nothing else, we've learned from our mistakes. We've been lucky in the past few years in that only a handful of hurricanes have made it into the Gulf at all and those that did hit far enough away to not be an issue. I mean, I feel sorry for Mexico and Texas and West Florida, but at least it wasn't here. And I knew about each one well in advance. Because we pay attention now. Every time a named storm rounds the Florida Peninsula, Louisianans keep a weather eye on the Gulf. Because you never know.

As for me, I still have that case of bottled water. I'll actually be in Birmingham this weekend, but I'll be keeping an eye on the news.