Originally posted five years ago.
Hurricane Katrina
It was a Saturday five years ago today. I had guys coming over for a fantasy football draft on Sunday and I had a few things I wanted to get done around the house. I'd had a late night Friday and got up for the last time around 9AM. I was drinking my coffee and making some rounds on the internet when I got a call. One of the fantasy football owners was going out of town and couldn't make it to the draft. He was evacuating. Really? I didn't think it was that serious. As I was considering what to do about that, I got another call. Another owner, same thing. I started calling the other owners to tell them we'd reschedule the draft after Katrina passed through. After I'd made all of my calls, I started watching the news.
I'll be the first to tell you that I hate the dire rhetoric that public officials and the media use during these times. I admit it's a tightrope and a horribly unfair task. Warn the public but don't induce panic. It's like a bit of a twist on the "Cry Wolf" fable. The crier doesn't get eaten by the wolf, though. The town does. Cry "Hurricane", everyone evacuates, no hurricane. Cry "Hurricane" again, everyone evacuates, still no hurricane. Cry "Hurricane" a third time, no one evacuates, killer hurricane. I tend to watch the local guys. They've usually been through it before and tend to exaggerate less. The statements coming out of the not-easily-shaken local public officials and the local media was quite alarming this time. It unsettled me.
"Just evacuate. Better safe than sorry". We all hear that a lot. Evacuations are very stressful and expensive. Traffic is bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. Will you be able to get gas along the way? Will your car overheat? Can you even find a place to stay? What will you take with you? Bear in mind that whatever you leave behind may be lost forever. We decided to stay. Most didn't. It is an intensely personal and difficult decision. It turned out to be the right decision for us. Two of our windows leak in horizontal rain conditions. I've never been able to find the source of the leak but it only does it during those relatively rare conditions. During Katrina, two more windows leaked. We were able to manage the leaks because we were there. Had we not been home, we would have had mold. That would have meant a remediation team, gutting the house, an insurance fight, and major upheaval. We were lucky.
13 days until football season ...
5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:
- I Will Find You - Clannad - The Last Of The Mohicans
- Rockin' In The Free World - Neil Young - Freedom
- I Want You To Want Me - Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick/In Color/Heaven Tonight (3 Pak)
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrews Sisters - 50th Anniversary Collection Volume One
- Firefly Main Theme Song - Joss Whedon - Firefly
Quote of the Day
Someone once said that life is either looking forward or looking back. There’s never The Moment. In New Orleans, The Moments come with joyful ease if you open yourself up to them.
Paul Oswell, London Daily Mail
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: "I have nothing new, or good, to report. Happy 4-year anniversary."
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