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Gustav must have made the national news
As I was about to head out to a Labor day barbecue today, my mother called. Apparently Gustav made the national news. She was worried.
We established I have a plan in place. I got a couple numbers from her of people I could stay with in a couple different cities. I reminded her that there was the possibility of the cell phone towers losing power (I hear they did when Allison hit) and that if she couldn’t reach me, that was probably the reason why. I did not say “it won’t be because I’m floating in a ditch somewhere,“ because parents have no sense of humor about some things.
When my aunt called twenty minutes later, I did tell her I wouldn’t be floating in a ditch, and she laughed. She had some additional contact numbers for me. It appears my mom called her. Oh, joy. Apparently my mom is still worried. Once my aunt, who lives in Hawaii and goes through this sort of thing all the time, established I had a plan and it was reasonable, we talked about important things, like politics.
Given my mom’s sudden worried call, I thought maybe I missed something on the news. Had Gustav turned towards Houston? I stopped watching the news because the newscasters were driving me crazy, and I really only check the NOAA site morning and evening because there’s no point in checking it more often than that right now. I didn’t think I’d missed anything, but who knows? I checked; I hadn’t. Luckless Louisiana is still the predicted target. That might change, but it doesn’t seem likely.
I am a little relieved that I don’t have to worry about a horse right now. Out of curiosity, I did some Googling to see what resources are available to horse owners. I’m a little surprised at how decentralized the information is; you almost have to know the answer before you search. Otherwise, you have to pick through lots of general articles, hoping they’ll mention a specific organization or location to contact for assistance. That’s… not helpful. Don’t get me wrong—there is a lot of very useful information out there. But the decentralized nature of the information makes it hard to find, especially for someone in a hurry. You might argue that horse owners can’t afford to be in a hurry—should be planning days in advanced where to go and how to get there—but you know everyone doesn’t do that. If Gustav takes a major jag after Cuba and centers on Houston, I am positive there will be people freaking out about where to go with their horses and how to get the horses out, and how are they going to find that information?
So, we’ll see. I hope my aunt called my mom back and calmed her down, since apparently I didn’t do such a good job.
Incidentally, I keep waiting to hear one of the presidential candidates has jumped off the campaign trail and headed down to the Gulf. Maybe they’ll wait until after the storm hits, so they can tour the disaster area and get some photo ops taken doing some volunteer work. Handing out bottles of water, that kind of thing. Gosh I’m cynical. Want to take bets on who gets here first and how long it takes them to arrive?
I have to go do something productive now. Like laundry.
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Comments
At this point, I’m not even sure we’re going to see any rain. If only I could convince my relatives.
<cite>The Horse</cite> has an article that makes it sound like many NOLA residents were evacuating their horses well in advance of the official evacuation orders (to avoid the contraflow traffic restrictions): read here. I’ve also read a couple side references in news stories that suggest people with small animals are either being allowed to take them on the buses, or they are being trucked to central pickup points.
It sounds like the evacuation has gone a lot more smoothly than with Katrina. I cannot imagine the psychological impact, though, especially with the overlap on Katrina’s anniversary.
Here’s hoping the planning and preparations that have been put in continue to be as much of a success as anything can be in this situation.
On Aug 31, 2008, GreyHorseMatters said:
I’m pretty sure you won’t be floating in a ditch, I don’t think you will be hit. I do feel sorry for the people in Louisiana, it’s not a good thing for them to be hit yet again. Especially since they got no help last time and are basically still suffering the effects of Katrina. I hope people have had enough forewarning to take care of their horses and animals by now.