hyenahell

hmmm. where to start?

you see, i had lots of funny stories about the trip to Atlanta and the 4th of July party, and road signs in Alabama, and the like. but they're all kind of over-shadowed in my memory now by the hellish drive back through the tropical storm. i honestly did not believe we were going to make it home.

so my friend julia found out at about noon that a tropical storm was supposed to hit new orleans. at this time we didn't know how large the storm was, or where it was coming from, or when it was supposed to hit. we decided, however, after calling a few folks back home, that we'd leave immediately and try to beat it. bad idea. my advice would now be: never try to race the weather.

we might have avoided driving through the worst of the storm had we not gotten stuck in traffic twice, in and around Birmingham, for a combined 2 hours. but about the time it got dark, just as we reached Mississippi, it started raining. and didn't stop. it got progressively worse as we crossed Mississippi, and by the time we got to Pontchatoula we were dealing with 20 mph winds and torrential downpour. there were visible sheets of water sliding across the interstate and we were only able to go about 40 mph, and could barely control the truck, or see. we had to stop about every twenty minutes, until it got so bad that we couldn't find the exits.

by the time we got to Slidell, it was about 1 am, and the eye of the storm was pretty much straight over Lake Pontchartrain, and winds were 35+ mph. we didn't even know if the bridge would be open to traffic, and weren't going to try to cross it, so we ended up staying the night at a hotel. we found out later that the bridge was closed to most traffic, and the winds across the lake were almost hurricane force. so probably a good idea not to try and make it to the city.

when i got home yesterday morning, i had no power and most of the trees in my backyard were just... gone. the damage in the city was actually worse than Ivan (but in all fairness that was the hurricane that almost was but than wasn't; at least for us). the power was on/off all day yesterday and last night, and a lot of my friends still don't have power.

and there's another fucking storm coming up from the gulf, but we'll have to see what that one does. grrr. driving home, in a delirious, fear-induced rage, i called Lousiania the most worthless, sunken, swampy, underwater hell-hole, and the crappiest thing anyone ever bought from Napoleon. and i was right.

next time i go anywhere, i am definitely flying.

i'll update with pictures and stories from the trip later. i just need to get over the realization of how close i was to a swampy, unknown death upon I-10.

Hyena- 0.
Nature- 7,000,000,000,001.

love all.
-Hyena.