We’re in Atlanta, which is good, I suppose. The city seems fairly dog-friendly, and it is very well air-conditioned. Also: it is not in the path of a hurricane. Yet.
We were lucky on the drive out. We left yesterday morning, and I have to say, we were a little concerned. Getting across Lake Pontchartrain, which usually takes 30 minutes tops, took an hour and a half. After the bridge, though, traffic moved normally. The roads were crowded, yes, but everyone was moving at 70 or 80 miles per hour, so that was good. I am very sorry to hear about the contraflow problems on I-59. I’m sure traffic on that route was lighter for Katrina, so maybe there were some kinks officials missed. It makes my stomach hurt to think that we seriously considered waiting for the contraflow to begin before leaving.
I am a child of the 80s and a frequent fan of ACT UP rhetoric, but it is very hard to turn my sadness into rage right now. Even if I could, at whom would I direct the rage? Poseidon? Flatulent cows? An anthropomorphized meteorological event? It’s kind of a moot point, because I’m pretty well exhausted by now.
On the upside, nearly everyone I know left town, and we’ve all been really good at keeping each another apprised of our whereabouts. (A painful lesson taken away from Katrina.) I know only four people who decided to ride out the storm. Two were obligated because of their jobs (one’s a nurse, one’s an emergency worker for his parish). Two others chose to stay because…well, I don’t really know why. But I know where they are, and I know they’re VERY well prepared, and I know that they’ve been contracted to provide food to the New Orleans Police Department after the storm passes, so they’ll make some cash. Yay for entrepreneurship.
I’m thinking of all those people right now–those who stayed and those who didn’t. I’ll do so tonight and all day tomorrow. By nightfall, the worst of it should be over, and I hope to hear from everyone shortly thereafter. Thanks for the kind emails and tweets and comments and such; I’ll respond to most of them later. I need some food now. I’m sorry.
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