Aftermath

I slept through straight from around 10:30 last night until 9 this morning. It's very rare that I sleep past 7:30, even without an alarm, so that gives you an idea of just how tired I am. I'm still tired, but I feel stronger and ready to take on the piles of work in front of me. I assume we're all returning to work tomorrow, but we'll see. City services are not expected to resume until Tuesday or Wednesday, depending.

I had dinner with V & K last night after their power came back on. Originally, they were going to come stay with me, as I had never lost power, and it was getting hot; now that Rita is gone, she's left us with the gift of 100+ temperatures once again. I wasn't planning to drive anywhere last night, but the idea of a home-cooked meal with friends was very tempting. Plus, they only live 10 minutes away.

V and I were discussing our exhaustion. It's not even like we came back to disasters! I mean, how crazy is that? We came back to intact homes, and minor damage. Yes, we have big clean-up jobs in front of us, but hey, better to scrape masking tape off the windows for hours rather than having to deal with water, broken glass, leaking roofs, etc.

The emotional strain, I think, is what's done us in. Ever since last Monday, we've been on Rita watch, and it was as if time had stopped. I kept checking the National Hurricane Center's forecasts, and it seemed to me they never updated their charts quick enough. The local media cut out Wednesday night (except for ABC) and went 24/7 with coverage. As far as I know, they're still at it.

The idea of a category 5 hurricane barrelling towards you, the third most intense storm ever, is a lot to process. I don't care how many hurricanes anyone has been through, but this is something that emotionally takes a chunk out of you. All of that was exacerberated by Katrina, so recently and so close, and the reminder that just over 100 years ago, the island had been completely wiped out by a hurricane.

V and I made the decision to leave on Wednesday afternoon. I spent 30 minutes in line waiting for gasoline, and filled up with premium -- the only option; in retrospect, I was one of the lucky ones. That evening was spent preparing our respective homes for the worst case scenario. None of us slept particularly well. The panic increased big time when we woke at 5:30 in the morning and realized that getting out of the city was going to be an absolute nightmare. We prepared to stay.

I went to the grocery store, because I had not considered staying, had no provisions to do so. I walked up and down the aisles with my cart, completely at a loss. I had no idea what to buy. I kept stealing glances into other people's carts to see what they were getting. People were buying tons of meat (???), water, and frozen dinners. None of that made sense to me. Finally I ended up in the canned vegetable section. There wasn't much left there, so I figured I was in the right place. I bought cans of kidney beans and chick peas and corn -- things I knew I could eat right out of the can. I also bought 3 gallons of water, not because I thought I needed them, but because everyone else was too.

Yesterday I mentioned to V how peculiar that whole shopping trip was. Here I was, with the financial and material resources to supply myself and to transport it all home, and I was stuck. I have no idea how people in New Orleans were expected to transport a gallon water per person for per day (3) to the Superdome. At the very least, they would have to carry 3 gallons of water. A family a four would have to take 12 gallons. Without transportation, God, what a nightmare.

I got home around 7:30 am from my shopping trip. Even in the two hours I'd been awake, my phone had been ringing off the hook. I was deeply distressed about The Fainter who had been sitting in traffic all night. Another friend called and told me she had been planning to evacuate, but was just going to hunker down now; she'd never make the Arkansas border given the conditions on the road. V & K decided to make a run to Ye Old Grad School Town on back roads, but I was too scared to go with them. Even at that early hour, we knew gasoline was scarce and that businesses were shutting down. I didn't want to take the chances.

My panic increased all that day. It was still a Cat 5 storm, my zip code was suddenly declared to be in a mandatory evacuation zone, and I couldn't figure out what to do. All day, I was waiting for V & K and The Fainter to check in, and my nerves were growing increasingly raw as I watched the traffic snarls on television. Towards the end of the day, I was having second thoughts, that maybe I should have left with V & K, rather than waiting for the contra-flow lanes to open (they never did). Between my stress and the constant phone calls, I couldn't sleep.

You know how this story goes. V wondered if the media was to blame for all of this, given Rita's eventual track, but having constantly watching the National Hurricane Center, I don't think. It wasn't until the early hours of Saturday morning did we realize we dodged a bullet. Even later Friday night -- we went to bed around 11 -- that storm was still making its way towards us. All night I tossed and turned, and I could hear the wind outside. I was very surprised to wake up and find we had power.

All in all, it was a 'dry run' for hurricane season. When you live on the Gulf Coast, you know it's a question of sooner rather than later. You know a hurricane is coming and there's not much you can do about it. It's the way of things. Even so, I cannot even imagine how people cope when they come back to having lost everything and how they rebuild their lives. Sure, I'm complaining about the fact that the tape on my windows won't peel off, and the fact I moved all my furniture around for nothing, but really, isn't this a better scenario than what could have been?

Next time, I'll know better what to expect, and I think it'll be less panicky. Maybe by then an evacuation plan will have been drafted that will work. At the same time, given what happened in NOLA and what happened here, I wonder if it's even possible to evacuate a major American city without problems. For that reason, I don't blame city officials. They didn't know where the hurricane would strike for sure, and they took prudent measures to warn people. No need to repeat NOLA's mistakes here.

There is damage throughout the city and along the coastal plains, but nothing major, and the loss of life, I believe, is minimal in our area. There are still issues to contend with over the next few days, but in general, we should be back to normal by Wednesday. This blog shall also return to its regular programming, unless something more deep regarding these past few days hits me. Thank you all for listening and your comments. It's much appreciated. You have no idea how much it meant to me.