Isaac Floods the South

Isaac Floods the South

Isaac Floods the South

Seven years after Katrina made landfall the residents of New Orleans and other communities have been broadsided once again by a hurricane.

This one is called Isaac.

Though not as big of a hurricane as Katrina, Isaac served up a cocktail of wind and rain.  Certain wards of New Orleans flooded today after water toppled over the earthen levees.

Thankfully, many people chose to leave town.  But, I’m amazed by the number of people who stayed to ride out the storm.

Some of them had to be rescued after rising waters forced them to the roofs of their homes putting themselves and the rescuers lives in danger.

When your city is 12 feet below sea level what will you do when Isaac Floods the South?

Some people will never learn.

I mean, did you see the live shot of Al Roker and Jim Cantore on The Today Show?  They were barely standing their ground in the wind and rain trying to give a weather update.

If things are bad enough to send Jim Cantore there from The Weather Channel, then things aren’t looking good for your city.

Jim Cantore is there as Isaac Floods the South.

Isaac Floods the South

Having lived on the Gulf Coast near Corpus Christi I have lived through more hurricanes than I want to remember.  I think one was enough, but alas, there were more.

My first encounter with a storm that packed wind and rain was Hurricane Carla.  It was September, 1961.  It seems like I remember Hurricane Ella in ’59, but I’m not sure when we moved down there.

There was Hurricane Beulah that hit us in 1967 with winds of 160 mph.

Later on I remember Hurricane Celia in August of 1970.  Celia was one of the costliest storms to come our way.

During this hurricane I was in Kingsville, TX at Texas A & I University. Me and a friend of mine were there for a week of training to become better debaters for our high school debate team.

I really couldn’t bring myself to tell Ms. Burge (our Speech and Drama teacher) that it would take more than a week to make me a better debater!

Anyway, Walter and I were living in a dorm and going to classes during the day. I think most of our nights were free time.

We had the assignment to debate on something like Unilateral Intervention in Vietnam.  Walter had a better grasp of things than I did.  I really had no clue.

But when the hurricane landed we were restricted to the dorm.  It was only for about a day or so, but we were under lockdown and could not leave.

I remember calling my parents on the pay phone and finding out that they were leaving town – without me!

So, my advice to any of you who get the chance to experience a hurricane first hand . . . Don’t.

Get out while you can because, as you know,

Hurricane Isaac Floods the South.

Chuck Whetstone Empower Network