Sat and Sun (belated post)

I arrived back from Mexico on Saturday, my friend Megan picks me up at the airport and tells me a tropical storm is approaching. No biggie...these things happen. Then on Sunday I wake up and find people talking about evacuating.  Isaac is supposed to become a Cat 2-3 hurricane by the time it hits on Tuesday. Suddenly, all my anxiety about getting back to work and preparing for my classes became overwhelmed by thoughts of the hurricane.  Should I evacuate?  If so, where should I go?  Tulane is making announcements every few hours, but any minute they might give the go-ahead for an evacuation.  If they do, I need to be able to leave within a few hours of the announcement.

I went to go fill up my car with gas at ~4pm. I headed to a sketchier/less used gas station, hoping the lines wouldn't be too long. Luckily they weren't - I only had to wait about 5 minutes (and, thankfully, someone was directing cars to make sure order was kept). Others weren't so lucky - by 9pm that night, most of the gas stations had run dry, and the remaining ones had lines 5-20 cars deep. Travis said he had to visit 5 gas stations before he found one that had gas available, and he still had a 20 minute wait.

Driving home from the gas station, I could start to see the signs: people loading up their SUVs, carrying around gasoline cans and pallets of bottled water. They are subtle, though, as many people still appear normal, the roads seem fine, and the weather is hot as usual. You still can't help but feel something ominous.

By the time I went to bed, Tulane had said that school will be held Monday, but people who evacuate won't be penalized.  My friends think it's because it's orientation week and the freshman's parents are here - Tulane REALLY doesn't want to cancel all classes. Isaac is supposed to be a Cat2 when it hits - I'm not sure if the levees are rated for a Cat 2. Tulane is supposed to make a second announcement at 8:30am on Monday, so for now I can't do much other than go to bed and wait (after doing my laundry, of course).