Aah, we're all gonna die...no, wait...

So hurricane Ike is barreling down on Texas like a barrel of some sort, and there is much talk and ballyhoo about people evacuating various locations. Potentially billions in damage, powerful winds, and at least the potential for a serious catastrophe.

Meanwhile, in Austin, they're saying it might rain.

So, evidently, there's not much reason for us to panic around here. Further toward the coast, about three hours away from here, several smaller cities have been evacuated in fear of what could potentially be a seriously devastating storm. Houston, on the other hand, the big coastal city, is not being evacuated. Mostly because the roads would become so clogged that everyone would be caught out on the road when the storm hit. Evidently this is precisely what happened several years ago when they tried to evacuate Houston on threat of a hurricane. I didn't see any horrible traffic, but then again, I don't live near any of the main thoroughfares.

Austin, on the other hand, is pretty much out of the red zone, so to speak. The current predictions seem to have the storm turning north, and, evidently, missing Austin almost completely. The predictions could, of course, be wrong, but even so, we're pretty far inland here, at least relative to Houston, and so the panic level seems to be hovering around 'not panicking'.

Just in the spirit of the thing, there's a good chance Jess and I may turn out all the lights and light candles and play board games to pass the time, but if you don't hear from us over the next few days, it's still more likely that I've lost my phone than been smooshed by a storm.

-N