There are lots of other, more articulate places to read about the hurricane, than the blog of a Kansas boy in an apartment in the Northeast, but I am still going to write my thoughts.
I am tied to my computer and the cable TV, listening to a local New Orleans news feed, watching the weather channel, 24 hour cable news stations.
This seems worse than the tornadoes that I learned to deal with growing up (not that I ever had to ride out a direct hit), because there is so much time between the first issued warning and the actual hit.
The scariest projection I heard was a CNN report from the Jefferson Parish emergency management chief that said he expects Lake Ponchartrain to become Lake New Orleans. (Hmmm looks like they took down the video. Here's a link to a text version of a similar article)
On one hand, it is good that hurricanes give this much warning, allowing time to evacuate. But what if you can't drive? What if you can't afford a car? What about those people that can't evacuate?
I'm also hearing stories right now about price gouging on gas, water, hotel rooms, generators, etc.
Sigh.
At least the lawyer they are interviewing is vowing that all gouging reports will be swiftly investigated and offenders thrown in jail.
I'll probably be up for a few more hours following these news feeds, even though there doesn't seem to be any change, and they aren't projecting landfall until dawn.
Posted by silsby at August 29, 2005 12:36 AM