Gustav

[vajramukti]

Hurricane Gustav is currently a Cat 5 thrashing about in Cuba. Scheduled to hit the coast sometime Tuesday, although the schedule keeps getting pushed forward.

It looks like it may still be a Cat 1 hurricane when it gets near my area, and I am 4 hours north of the coast. We are expecting at least Tropical Storm conditions and are bracing for 10-20 inches of rain, which we cannot handle.

Unfortunately, 30,000 evacuees landed here today. The forecast has only been recently updated to include these dire straits for Shreveport, and it turns out that we are getting slammed. So, the rush is on at Walmart. Gas stations are running out already, water, milk, and bread are in short supply.

And the weather doesn't hit until Tuesday. We're supposed to go to Six Flags in Dallas tomorrow. No weather here or there for at least a day after we get back, but it is nerve racking...

[Frater G]

What is the bigger threat to you in Shreveport, wind or rain? Are you evacuating as well? I wonder if these hurricanes are going to be a regular event.

www.nhc.noaa.gov/

[morningstar]

Our prayers are with the folks down your way...there's so little anyone can do but wait, unfortunately...that and evacuate if possible. Take care and I do hope for the best for everyone down there.

[vajramukti]

Well, the wind is a threat because we have lots of big, old trees. Our city has a whole lot of drainage leves and canals, however, we got 10" of rain back in May and there was widespread flooding. So, it is tough to say right now.

My problem personally is that I will likely be heading south to the middle of the big damage Wednesday, but if there is damage here, I will be leaving my family to go help others.

[vajramukti]

Down here, these storms are a regular event. We are about 4-5 hours from the coast, and usually don't get hit, although we do typically have at least one thunderstorm a year that will knock power out for 3-4 days at a time.

But, yeah, we had one storm that fizzled early, then Fay, Gustav, Hanna is strengthening, and they just named Ike. So, the season is shaping up to be a tough one.

Katrina and Rita are considered back to back storms, but if you look at the names, there were 7 hurricanes in between those two. We could have a long way to go.

At work, I closed out our biggest Katrina re-build project just this past April...