TS Isaac

by Terri Wagner

Here's the biggest problem we have with hurricanes (or tropical storms), NO ONE knows. Yes I did that in caps. We don't know. Earlier in the week, the American model was showing Isaac skirting the entire Florida Gulf coastline. The European model was showing Isaac coming straight to Mobile. Then it tracked a bit west so Panama City went under the gun. Gulf Shores came next. Place is like a ghost town. Went down to the beach today, waves are pretty neat but still fairly tame. I've seen much worse. Will check it out tomorrow...but "they" still had evacuations of Gulf Shores.

We made some preparations, but we are pretty prepared thanks to the church anyway.

Trouble is the darn storm is now tracking to NOLA. Some take a funny little juke to the right when they hit land so Isaac could land up in Gulfport. What does that mean for us?

No one really knows. Ivan, I left. Went to Baton Rouge where my brother lives and hunkered down. We came back four days later and found our place had surivived. Living without power (read AC) in the humid south is NOT fun, but we were ok.

Katrina moved west and we got a few gusts of wind and that's it. No rain, little wind, while it destroyed Mississippi and touched off the events in NOLA.

Bottom line: The hype for a tropical storm can have a very negative effect on people. They get ready, move their boats, gas up, pull out generators, check food and water supplies, break out batteries, cancel school and local events, and nothing happens. It all goes silent.

So what happens the next time? You just think ok batteries check; ok gas enough to get by; boat's ok; generator's in the garage; make a fun run to Walmart; and laugh about it. Then like a big boom the storm comes right at ya.

Moral of the story: You can't fool Mother Nature. You have to rely on year round preparations, listen carefully to the Holy Ghost and keep your powder dry.

It gets too easy to get blase about small storms. After Ivan and Katrina, it's tough to get all excited about Isaac.

Right now it's quiet and silent. I'll let ya know how it goes. Posting early just in case the power goes out. They put up hurricane proof power lines around here after Katrina. I just wondered why they didn't bury the lines, lol.

Took these today at Gulf Shores.