Mayor Nagin just ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans calling Gustav the "mother of all storms". Probably meant "father". New Orleans is in danger of Gustav's winds, accompanying tornadoes, storm surges, and flooding if the newly-repaired levees don't hold.
CrabAppleLane is about 50 miles almost due north of New Orleans as the crow flies. We're north of Lake Pontchartrain and above sea level. The high winds and tornadoes are my main concerns. Flooding is not a concern. We were very fortunate for Katrina. She did minimal damage to CrabAppleLane. It had nothing whatever to do with good preparation, though. It was luck. Some people around here that were much better prepared had extensive property damage.
The eye of Katrina passed about 30 miles east of CrabAppleLane. The winds started here at about 6:15AM. She gusted and howled for about 10 hours straight. She was nasty. Gustav is heading about 100 miles west of CrabAppleLane at present. We'll be farther away if he holds his present course but we'll be on his worst side. If he maintains his present course and intensity, we're expecting a rough ride here.
I'll be posting as time, inspiration, and ability permit. Dave has graciously volunteered to post updates if I can't. That's assuming I'll be able to get updates to him. Communication after Katrina was awful. Hopefully, that problem has been resolved in the last three years. It's going to get a big test in a couple of days.
It's pretty calm here at the moment.
Hang in there, Rob, and keep your head down. You know how to reach me - let me know if there's anything Tracey and I can do to help.
Take care, Rob and Patsy. Let me know if there's anything I can do, too.
Thanks. We're deciding what to do now.