Friday afternoon, we drove to New Orleans to see our oldest daughter Anna and celebrate our youngest daughter Merry's 7th birthday. We traveled over the crossway, watching as the skyline grew larger and larger with each passing mile.
Now, it is Hurricane Isaac that seems to grow larger and larger as it travels toward us here in Mississippi and our neighbors in Louisiana. And as opposed to Friday, when we were traveling toward the coast, now untold numbers are doing the opposite.
Though official evacuations have not been posted, many are already traveling the roads to escape not just the storm's destruction, but hopefully to escape crazy traffic jams and prolonged journeys as tens of thousands will begin to evacuate over the next couple of days.
Anna is one of those. Last night, she went ahead and filled up her tank, bought some provisions, and began preparing for Hurricane Isaac. Today we monitored the weather and news. As soon as we received word that Holy Cross College had cancelled classes for the next three days at least, we called her and told her to head home.
By this evening, New Orleans was starting to go into high-gear hurricane preparation and evacuation. Anna said that all the gas stations she passed already had lines from the pumps out into the roads. She also said that it took her an hour to drive the distance from her apartment to the edge of the city, a distance that normally was only about 30 minutes.
We have other relatives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that will probably start their evacuation tomorrow morning.
These are just a few of those who remember Katrina and other storms and just dont' feel like staying is worth it.
Please pray for these folks. Pray for them to have safety as they travel. For them not to run out of gas in all the stopping and starting. For families traveling with small chldren who often need bathroom breaks when interstate exits are blocked and there are no restrooms available. Pray for those who, unlike Anna, have no family or friends to evacuate to. And pray for those left behind. Some, like doctors and police officers, are not allowed to leave. Others, don't feel they have the means to leave.
Praying for mercies and miraculous provisions,
Elysa
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