in case you haven't been under a rock, there's a (at the moment) hurricane named Gustav by Cuba. according to all of these "projected paths," it's supposed to head into the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall in south-southeastern Louisiana, which is where I live.
for those of you who don't know me or anything, I live about 40 minutes north of New Orleans, and I did evacuate for Katrina, thankfully. my area, which got hit kind of hard (mostly just a bunch of fallen trees), was out of power for about 2 weeks--2 weeks of 100 degree, 100% humidity (highlighted for a reason) weather.
currently, they're already evacuating thousands of people, and tomorrow (Saturday) they're supposed to start busing about 30,000 people out of the New Orleans area. already there is going to be contraflow on the interstate to try and get as many people out of the area as possible. my university cancelled classes for Tuesday. my mom and grandparents are actually evacuating at the crack of 7 AM tomorrow to go to Tennessee.
as someone who has lived in this area all his life and has endured countless tropical storms and hurricanes, I understand people being cautious, but in my opinion, the people here are going a bit overboard with this. had the levee system in New Orleans not failed during Katrina, none of this mass caution--even mild panic--would be taking place. Gustav is still south of Cuba, and the projected time that it will make landfall (wherever that may be) keeps getting pushed back.
a problem that results with everyone acting so early is a "catch-22" of sorts. for example, take me. I work 2 jobs and have a full plate of school as well. I'm scheduled to work Saturday night at my main job, Sunday night at the other, and Tuesday at the other also. if I do decide to leave tomorrow morning, I'm probably going to miss AT LEAST three shifts of work--not to mention my main job's boss is a fucking douche and I just started my other job. I may also miss a day of class (only Tuesday is cancelled so far). however, if I stay and the worst SHOULD come to pass, I'm going to be living in an outdoor sauna for however long with no real relief.
I do have a friend who is going to Florida and said I could ride with her if I wanted to. however, Florida is probably going to be expensive--food, gas (which will spike as Gustav gets stronger), hotel room, etc.--but at the same time, it's a pseudo-vacation and I may actually be able to enjoy myself. I didn't get a vacation at all this summer since I worked 6 days a week, and I actually have the money to spend; only problem is that I'm not sure if it'd be "worth it."
if I stay, I can either stay at home with my stepdad (not happening since my stepdad is an ass in these kinds of situations) or maybe go stay with some of my friends and have what we call a "hurricane party" (i.e. we get loaded while the hurricane is actually over us and THEN we go into survival mode).
I do have options, but what aggravates me is that the decision has to be made NOW, even though in my opinion it really doesn't have to be. any opinions about the whole situation (mine or the hurricane in general)? if you happen to live in Louisiana (BDW and Trey15 are the only Louisianians I can think of right now), what are you doing about it?
for those of you who don't know me or anything, I live about 40 minutes north of New Orleans, and I did evacuate for Katrina, thankfully. my area, which got hit kind of hard (mostly just a bunch of fallen trees), was out of power for about 2 weeks--2 weeks of 100 degree, 100% humidity (highlighted for a reason) weather.
currently, they're already evacuating thousands of people, and tomorrow (Saturday) they're supposed to start busing about 30,000 people out of the New Orleans area. already there is going to be contraflow on the interstate to try and get as many people out of the area as possible. my university cancelled classes for Tuesday. my mom and grandparents are actually evacuating at the crack of 7 AM tomorrow to go to Tennessee.
as someone who has lived in this area all his life and has endured countless tropical storms and hurricanes, I understand people being cautious, but in my opinion, the people here are going a bit overboard with this. had the levee system in New Orleans not failed during Katrina, none of this mass caution--even mild panic--would be taking place. Gustav is still south of Cuba, and the projected time that it will make landfall (wherever that may be) keeps getting pushed back.
a problem that results with everyone acting so early is a "catch-22" of sorts. for example, take me. I work 2 jobs and have a full plate of school as well. I'm scheduled to work Saturday night at my main job, Sunday night at the other, and Tuesday at the other also. if I do decide to leave tomorrow morning, I'm probably going to miss AT LEAST three shifts of work--not to mention my main job's boss is a fucking douche and I just started my other job. I may also miss a day of class (only Tuesday is cancelled so far). however, if I stay and the worst SHOULD come to pass, I'm going to be living in an outdoor sauna for however long with no real relief.
I do have a friend who is going to Florida and said I could ride with her if I wanted to. however, Florida is probably going to be expensive--food, gas (which will spike as Gustav gets stronger), hotel room, etc.--but at the same time, it's a pseudo-vacation and I may actually be able to enjoy myself. I didn't get a vacation at all this summer since I worked 6 days a week, and I actually have the money to spend; only problem is that I'm not sure if it'd be "worth it."
if I stay, I can either stay at home with my stepdad (not happening since my stepdad is an ass in these kinds of situations) or maybe go stay with some of my friends and have what we call a "hurricane party" (i.e. we get loaded while the hurricane is actually over us and THEN we go into survival mode).
I do have options, but what aggravates me is that the decision has to be made NOW, even though in my opinion it really doesn't have to be. any opinions about the whole situation (mine or the hurricane in general)? if you happen to live in Louisiana (BDW and Trey15 are the only Louisianians I can think of right now), what are you doing about it?
