Go Away Gustav!!!

Tropical Storm Gustav is looking towards the Gulf Coast and as most of you know, my parents moved there a couple of years ago.

Since Katrina, that area is very gun shy when it comes to possible hurricanes. My mom just emailed and said that the whole area is in preparation mode...

The emergency management people are telling people to be ready to leave. I went to Walmart to get extra non-perishable food this afternoon. Tim is going for cat food, gas, and cash. They are already in full swing. There isn't a parking place to be had. I parked along the highway in a ditch. They have 18 wheelers in the parking lot selling water directly from the trucks. They are bringing flats of canned meats like tuna, etc. You can tell you are in the south because they are selling Vienna sausages by the case as fast as they can unload them. There are vacant aisles where staple things that were hard to get last time like cat/dog food and toliet paper/towels were. The hospitals are already planning to move patients to Jackson and Birmingham even Memphis depending on the weather overnight. All selective surgeries are canceled. Tomorrow they as beginning to move the nursing home people north.

Our Gulf Coast Campus is closed after today's classes. They are securing it and moving some of the expensive equipment out. There is a marine science lab there with all sorts of things that were really damaged in Katrina. All students on both campus are being encouraged to go home. Those who can't have been told to be prepared to move to a central dorm this weekend if it looks like it will be dangerous. The churches have been notified to prepare as emergency shelters, etc. All the power people have been put on alert. They say it is already hard to get a hotel room north because people are making reservations ahead of time in case.

Please pray for everyone in the path of this storm. It is truly "just wait and see" time... these storms can be so unpredictable.

Selfishly, I want the storm to just die out in the Gulf some where... my Mom is supposed to fly into Austin next Wednesday for a visit. I miss her and I want her to make it.

Gustav- go away!!