When in doubt . . . talk about the weather!

[Cloud]

Actually, I want to make a comment about a friend of mine. A former resident of New Orleans, she owned business and a home in the French Quarter. They made it out of NO for Katrina, all right, sold her business . . . and moved to the Yucatan.

So now . . . Dean.

I thought you might be interested in what the Mexican preparations might be like. Here's what she says:

Well, after living in New Orleans and the experience of Hurricane Katrina, we take this kind of thing pretty seriously. In fact, we've been "preparing" for a hurricane since we moved to the Yucatan over a year ago.

We have a "safe room" that has hurricane glass on two of the windows (so we can look out and see what's going on) and metal laminates securely over the other ones. Just last week we had our big trees trimmed back (before we even heard a hurricane was expected). We have lots of supplies: food, and pet food, water, flashlights and batteries, candles, a generator, etc. We've been "collecting" this stuff for many months in anticipation of such an event. Oh, and we have insurance on the house, too. Just in case....

The Yucatan is NOT below sea level like New Orleans, and there are no nearby rivers or levees. The Gulf is about 50 km or more from here, so we are not right on the water. We're on the northwest part of the Yucatan Peninsula, so the hurricane will hit on the coast and have a fair amount of time to "slow down" before reaching our area. Not to say we think it will be "no big deal" but we are NOT likely to take a local hit at a 4 or a 5. We feel as well prepared as possible. Today we're taking in all the outdoor furniture and potted plants inside. Tomorrow we'll tape the windows (apparently, you want to leave that on for as short a time as possible for easier removal).

Not sure how long we might be without power or phone (and internet) but I'll post again afterwards when I can. The locals are mighty savvy about living simply, and living off the land, so frankly, I think I'd rather be here than in New Orleans. Oh yeah, and they don't have guns either ; )