Before the Deluge

I got out a little bit this morning to run some errands before the deluge arrives. I had to get mom's car inspected and I wanted to go by the school and pick up my textbook so I can maybe get some work done in the next couple of days.

Gustav has made landfall and all eyes are on the levees in NOLA. So far, so good. The media is, of course, in panic mode and just seems to make things worse. We have 60,000 evacuees here in Shreveport and as I was getting around this morning it was hard not to notice their presence.

My first stop was the service station for the car inspection where I visited with a pizza delivery driver. He told me he delivered 140 pizzas to the CenturyTel last night. He said they made so many deliveries last night they ran out of pizza boxes and had to deliver some in plastic bags. From there I went to the grocery store (AGAIN) to pick up a handful of things and it was packed and slammed. Long lines, full parking lot, empty shelves. Super 1 ran out of bread last night (though I think they are restocked now). Batteries are long gone.

I went by the school to get my textbook and cutting through downtown Shreveport I was stopped at a light by a guy from New Orleans who wanted directions to the Civic Center which is now open as a shelter. They had been driving in heavy traffic all night; he was in a caravan with two other cars. He was the last car in the line so he was having trouble relaying my directions to the cars in front of him. I got in front of them, finally, leading them in the right direction.

At my school, the Bearkat football team was on the practice field. They aren't afraid of any stinkin' hurricane! Go Kats!

On the way back I drove by LSUS where there is a Red Cross shelter, long since full. Many of the evacuees were sitting alongside the soccer field watching a game (or a practice, I'm not sure). Others were walking around the campus perimeter.

Our weather right now is fine; very humid, slightly breezy. The rain bands are just now reaching Alexandria. They are still expecting 10 to 20 inches of rain here over the next couple of days as this storm stalls out.