Me = Heck Outta Dodge

I was nervous but fine when Rita was heading toward Galveston/Houston. I have family in the Brazosport area, but they'd evacuated. I woke up Thursday morning to find that the storm had turned a little more toward the East and a little more of Louisiana was showing up in that "cone of uncertainty." Well, I went on to school, a little more alert and ready to panic (those of you who were near and dear to my heart during Hurricane Lili in 2003 may remember how much I LOVE Category 4/5 hurricanes that are heading STRAIGHT FOR US!) but I had my classes--it was Farmer's Day in honor of the Sugarcane festival that weekend, so we were all dressed in our farmer gear and looking cute...and then they began to call for mandatory evacuations in coastal/low-lying areas!

School dismissed at 1:00pm and I headed home to watch the news--imagine that, ME watching the news coverage. Surprising, I know! Well around 4:15pm, there was another little shift to the East and the eye was forecast to hit at Sabine Pass on the Texas/LA boarder and I was OUT! That's only about 75 miles away from where I live and the eastern side of the storm is the bad side--the side with all of the rain and storm surges and tornadoes. I don't do well with things I can't control, and unlike those yahoos who think that they'll actually be able to control things if they stay home during the storm, my first instinct is to get the heck outta dodge...so I did. I left town around 6:30pm and made it to Springhill, LA, by about midnight.

Springhill is Northeast of Shreveport on the Arkansas boarder. My friend Tracie lives and teaches here and has THE cutest little house! She's graciously taken me in for the weekend. As we've all learned lessons from our experiences with Katrina, I've packed for about two weeks--but some people may say I do that for any weekend trip, so what's the difference! ;) We'll get some of the weather up here as well, but I was more concerned about the threat of tornadoes and flooding--at home, we're forecast to get about 30" of rain in the area b/c Rita's supposed to be stalling on the coast for a little while before heading inland. I figured, why be miserable?!

So just in case anyone was wondering, I'm here and ok and hoping that nothing major happens at home...but not willing to stay around and wait for it! I may be out of touch for a little while b/c I don't know what will happen with the electricity and all, but I'm sure that all will be fine.

Things in New Orleans still continue to be a struggle. I saw on the news this morning that the fragile levees are giving way and the 9th ward is flooding again. The 17th street levee was holding last I heard, but flooding is still a major concern for them despite their distance from this storm.

...and why exactly are we all still living on the Gulf Coast?! Hmmmm, relocating is becoming a little more tempting!