Gustav A Go Go?

For anyone who does not know, I live in Mississippi. We are about 60 miles from the coast. We moved here in the aftermath of Katrina so did not go through that storm here. But, I grew up in Florida. I was in Central FL but my husband is from Miami. Both of us are used to hurricanes and preparing for the worst while living our lives normally. I have heard some major horror stories of Katrina over the past few weeks. The storm was not the major problem here. It was after the storm that caused the most problems. People from the coast evacuated to our area. The power was out (in some places) for up to 10 weeks. The water had to be boiled for months. People were sleeping int heir cars in the parking lots of grocery stores so that they could get in as soon as they opened and try to get supplies. Other people were shooting each other over generators or ice.

What?

Crazy.

The panic set in here this past week. The stores started running out of canned goods, batteries, bottles water and toilet paper. Gas stations were out of gas. Prices soared up 0.35 per gallon and there were people filling 10 - 15 gas cans at a time at every station I stopped at. Women I know were talking about evacuating north as early as last Wednesday. Teachers at the school were talking about if school is not in session we should do such and such.

Don't get me wrong, I am paying attention and we are prepared. But, I have been prepared, mostly, since Hurricane season started. Why are people just now getting ready for a storm? Why is everyone panicking? Panic is not going to help you. I have a plan in mind and if the worse happens and we need to evacuate, I have the plan ready to go. I have batteries, food, water, gas, everything we need for up to a 2 week stint of no power. I have discussed with my daughter what to do if we get hit hard and she is cut off from our end of the house.

I am cautious but still calm. We are having guests over for dinner tonight. No biggie.

I guess, the people here are reacting this way because of trauma. They were so traumatized by the situation last time when they were not prepared that they are now panicking. I hope this panic does not cause more problems. I hope they everyone is prepared and cautious and calm and the aftermath is easy. Mostly, I hope we are not hit hard. I hope it blows itself back down to a smaller storm before it hits land. And I hope everyone has evacuated NOLA and the coast before it hits.

So, keep us in your thoughts. I will post again before it hits and keep doing so with updates. If we lose power or internet, I will contact someone else to post updates for me. If I can.

I am sure we will all be fine. But, hey, positive thoughts coming my way are always welcome! Everybody be safe and stay sane!