Wednesday, December 28, 2011

New Orleans braces for Ivan 9/14/04

Well, Hurricane Ivan's saga continues. After rumors and more rumors floating around all afternoon and evening, Tulane announced last night at about 9:00 that they were suspending classes for the rest of the week and closing the dorms by Wednesday morning, giving the students today to find some place, some way, to go. Loyola waited, and suspended classes after the 11:00 PM predictions came out of the National Hurricane Center (at NOAA). I think the universities hesitated to announce earlier that there would be no classes today as they wanted to avoid big parties last night, and that it was probably the right thing to do. After deciding to just get up early and show up for the morning train (which is only $60 one way!), my (son number) Two and his Roommate got lucky, and were offered a ride, along with one of their high school classmates (and musical collaborator) from Tulane, by a Tulane girl who also went to their high school. It was very nice of her. I don't think they know the girl that well and am guessing she's older, as I don't think Tulane allows freshman to have cars (I know Loyola doesn't). They're supposed to be leaving at about 10:00 CDT, for the 500 mile drive, and I imagine they will face intense traffic on the Interstate highways that connect their college town to their home. His laptop will fit nicely in with his clothes. He doesn't know what kind of car she has, but remembers that she drove a Volvo in high school. He's hoping she can make room for his mandolin, knowing that, on the second floor, his room will flood should they sustain a direct hit. Roommate, a music major, is hoping to bring one guitar but will have to leave the rest of his instruments behind. They just informed me (via AIM) that they intended to store them on the top bunk and I have suggested they try to find a friend on a higher floor and ask to store the valuable instruments they're leaving behind, somewhere safer. New Orleans is extremely, perhaps uniquely, vulnerable to hurricanes, and it was presented to us matter-of-factly during Orientation. The city sits, quite simply, below sea level, wedged between the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico, and is kept *dry* by a system of levies that could not hold up against a major hurricane. The level of damage that the storm surge associated with a direct hit would cause to this unusual and wonderous city would be devastating in a way that really doesn't exist anywhere else in the US. So, this morning, I pray that God is riding with these young people on their drive, and ask for His blessing for all those who evacuate and especially those who remain behind, for whatever reason, to face Ivan. Finally, I pray that God keeps a protective watch over the city of New Orleans, so that these young people, once safely home (and, yes, Ivan could make his way up here eventually!), will have universities and a town to return to after this storm has passed.

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