It developed a couple of days ago and now everyone’s talking about Hurricane Gustav! The storm is still in the Caribbean, where it has killed at least 22 people, but if it continues on its current course it could land pretty directly on New Orleans and/or the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a Category 3 or higher storm.
We should know by Saturday or Sunday whether we need to leave. Hands On has a fairly well-developed evacuation plan and if they evacuate I’ll go with them to a shelter near Jackson. Since Tropical Storm Fay barely affected us, this would be the first evacuation since I’ve been here, so we’ll see how it develops.
In other news, our team won Trivia Night last night at the Grocery! It was my first time playing and I don’t mind saying we did very well. Among the questions we got right:
- Who was the first man to appear on the cover of Playboy?
- What are rats unable to do, making them especially vulnerable to poison?
- Which US state has the world’s largest naval base?
Answers: Peter Sellers, vomit, and of course, Virginia!
One hopes that the Gulf coast residents are preparing to leave and get out of the way.
But, they won’t leave. They’ll stay, trying to be brave, and the one’s that do probably don’t have much to protect, but if they stay, they’ll then get sympathy for having lost everything.
I got an idea. Get your stuff, and get out. It’s coming right now. Get in your car, get a bus ticket, call a friend, ride your bike, I don’t care. Get out. If it floods no one but homes, we can replace and fix. Just no deaths, no crowded hospitals, and no “i wish the government could build a wall that protects me.” Chances are those most affected don’t pay taxes, yet they complain the most.