Friday, September 12, 2008

Horrible Hurricane


I am trying to figure out why people don't evacuate in a hurricane like the one about to decimate Galveston, Texas. I just read this article where an estimated 11,000 to 20,000 people did not leave an area where officials told them they would face "certain death." If someone told me that, and then instructed me to write my social security number on my arm with a permanent marker, I think I might pay attention.

It is so horrible to watch what is likely to be such a tragic situation develop. God knows we hope that the weather folks are giving worst case scenario but it sure sounds dire. I totally don't understand Geraldo Rivera standing on a beach in Galveston broadcasting on Fox News right now. He's holding up a meter saying "117 mph winds! 117!" All kinds of junk is flying all around him and he has another guy standing next to him holding him up! What a freaking idiot!!

As for us, WAY up here in north Louisiana, we are supposedly looking for winds 39-74 mph and 4-6 inches of rain with possibility for tornadoes. I'm paying attention. As I am sure all over the country, gas is hard to find. I got gas on the way home from work with little problem but I saw my neighbors around 5 who had been out for a while looking for some. It's OUT all over town. Where there IS any, there are long, long lines.

What is so scary about this storm is these media folks talking about how this is the worst storm in YEARS; how large it is and how large the eye is and how large the storm surge is. They are using adjectives that they don't usually use! Those poor folks in south-western Louisiana who are just beginning to recover from Hurricane Rita...

Say a little prayer tonight for those folks that stayed behind all over that part of Texas. I have some friends in Houston that I'm worried about. Hopefully this will be the last storm for this season!

2 comments:

Mary Frances Archer said...

my mother in law in Houston is staying put after they put out word that it was ok - otherwise we were planning to welcome her and her sister for the weekend due to Ike.

i think it's absolute arrogance and/or ignorance to stay put just b/c you may have survived storms in the past

and Geraldo is clearly some Peter Pan syndrome dude that just never got the **sniff** respect he felt he deserved in journalism - he's like the first Jerry Springer to me in a way

Anonymous said...

Poor old Geraldo. I remember him from when I was in high school over 30 years ago. He was a fairly decent reporter, but somewhere along the line he got deep into "Gonzo Journalism".

I know Geraldo has a law degree (which doesn't exactly mean you're always the brightest crayon in the box) and I think he use to do some boxing, so there may be some residual brain damage.

My favorite Geraldo moment was the "Al Capone's Vault" escapade. Geraldo built that story up for weeks. "We have found Al Capone's vault here in Chicago. What could be in that vault? Money? Guns? Bodies?"

When they finally breached the wall of the vault, they found....(drum roll)....empty bottles and dust (All on live tv).

Well, at least he tried.