Gustav

[Leonidas]

Here's a good example of how unpredictable these things are. It looks like it turned south after hitting Haiti, and is going to go on the south side of Jamaica rather than between Jamaica and Cuba. Radical change in 8 hours.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

that's cause it was moving so slowly. predictions are more accurate given more momentum in forward speed.

[HFWR]

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum

named after gustav, i guess it starts with an "h". here's your opportunity to help name a hurricane. i'm voting for harry the hurricane because i like alliterations.

HFWR

[Purron]

The next one will be named Hanna. You can see all the planned storm names here: Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names

[unclemick]

Hmmm - just got off the phone - invited to a Hurricane party in Covington(across the causeway bridge from N.O.). We declined.

Checked on one of my old fav.'s the Spaghetti Model at BoatU.S.com - looks like a shotgun grouping on N.O. - but what do those silly computer models know?

heh heh heh - Will be watching as we know so many still in the area.

[poboy]

Hmmm - just got off the phone - invited to a Hurricane party in Covington(across the causeway bridge from N.O.). We declined.

Question: Has the Looters Association set a time and place for their training session?

[Buckeye]

DH just hit the road to Detroit Metro to catch a flight to New Orleans as a Red Cross Volunteer for up to 2 weeks.

[REWahoo]

Just saw a report on the local (San Antonio) news showing the local staging area for evacuation buses headed to the coast. So far over 1,000 buses have been dispatched and at least 500 more are expected to head out tonight and tomorrow.

[Want2retire]

Frank and I plan to evacuate at 3 AM, in about 8 hours, when the traffic has died down. I really doubt that Gustav will head to New Orleans, much less cause Katrina-like damage. I am thinking it might be headed to Texas instead. But, we don't care for the "Sword of Damocles" stress and worry, and we will be happier elsewhere.

This storm isn't even in the Gulf, and when we leave it will still be several days from its potential landfall. My car is stuffed so full of my things that I feel like a hillbilly (somewhat appropriate, given our Ozarks destination).

In 2005 we stayed for Hurricane Cindy, evacuated just for an afternoon for Hurricane Dennis (came back from Jackson when we heard Mayor Nagin call our parish's mandatory evacuation a "premature evacuation"), evacuated for Hurricane Katrina, came back and evacuated again for Hurricane Rita. In comparison, 2008 has not been too bad at all.

We are both looking forward to retiring next year and moving north.

[mews]

I hope that you have an uneventful time evacuating, and that it proves to be an unneeded precaution -

be well -

ta,
mews

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by mews

I hope that you have an uneventful time evacuating, and that it proves to be an unneeded precaution -

be well -

ta,
mews

Thank you! With any luck, all will be fine for us and for New Orleans. I don't see this being another Katrina event but we would rather leave.

Whereas every single person on our block left for Katrina, my next door neighbor is staying this time (they have big dogs and they are fed up with traveling with them). The guy across the street lived his whole life in Chalmette (another New Orleans suburb) until Katrina destroyed his home there. He is evacuating.

[Dawg54]

Originally Posted by Want2retire

We are both looking forward to retiring next year and moving north.

I hear ya. I would get the heck out of there too. I'm just far enough north that hurricanes are more of an inconvenience than a deal breaker.

[Purron]

Good luck Want2retire. I'll be thinking about you and hoping you and Frank are safe and sound. Keep us posted and know we are all praying this storm doesn't cause any harm.

[Moemg]

Good luck ! Hope Gustav is way overrated !

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by Want2retire

My car is stuffed so full of my things that I feel like a hillbilly

[Want2retire]

Yes, like that, CFB!

Dawg52, you are right (but as long as we will be moving for ER anyway, we are moving far enough north to avoid even the inconvenience! )

Moemg and Purron, thanks. I am taking my laptop and will check in now and then. Hopefully Gustav will not affect New Orleans too much so this will be like a brief vacation.

[Leonidas]

From a storm chaser blog:

We’re driving down I-10 bound for New Orleans, and I’ve been struck by two things on the trip:...second, the number of Wal-Mart trucks we’ve passed on the freeway.

We are clearly driving faster than whatever speed Wal-Mart recommends for its drivers, but the sheer number of trucks heading to supply New Orleans-area Wal Marts is impressive.

It reminds me of a New York Times article I read way back in 2004. The article discussed what Wal-Mart calls “predictive technology.” In a nutshell, servers at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters constantly track what consumers are buying at every store across the country. Over the years the company has learned a thing or two about what people think they need prior to a major hurricane.

The number-one item? Beer.

Wal-Mart’s chief information officer told the Times that the company also noticed that customers crave Pop Tarts before a big storm.

So one could easily reason that I’ve now passed eight trucks filled with beer and Pop Tarts here on I-10.

[mickeyd]

Gustav just went to Category IV....time to start running.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

servers at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters constantly track what consumers are buying at every store across the country.

They need to have a system that tracks that the local walmart doesnt bother stocking their shelves or maintaining inventory. I sort of gave up going because I'd walk in with a list of six things and two of them would be empty shelves. I asked once if there was any more "in the back" and I was told there is no "back".

Be pretty interesting though to have the next disaster area get divided in two, let FEMA handle half and walmart handle the other half. See which one works better and costs less.

[Leonidas]

Originally Posted by mickeyd

Gustav just went to Category IV....time to start running.

Depends on where you live. If it were New Orleans, or coastal low lying places to the south and west I would already be gone. East of NO, I would wait for another day. Farther west, I would wait for the models to firm up after Gustav gets feet wet post-Cuba.

As he approaches Cuba he is in a very hot part of the Loop Current. When he leaves he will be in a good piece of it again, maybe even hotter than what he's in right now. Cuba won't take too much off him and by Sunday evening he will be every bit as big and bad as he is now. I would not be surprised to see it go to a Cat 5.

But the models are all starting to show a western turn at,or right after, landfall. A couple even show the storm bouncing off the coast and turning back out into the Gulf toward Mexico.

Trying to predict landfall is always tough, but Gustav seems to be a changeable sort. Still, as long as Nola is in the path, or close in on the dirty side, that's too much rain for me to be comfortable staying in the bowl shaped city.