September 16th, 2004:

Here’s a nice picture to remember Ivan as he looked yesterday (Sept. 15th).

I went for a jog around the bayou this morning. It’s a very pleasant day. Kind of breezy, which is nice. There’s a little debris here and there that got blown about last night, but no damage that I could see. The grass was not wet, because we didn’t really get any rain.

34,000 people did lose power in the metro area, but not us. Xavier’s website has been down for the duration, but I didn’t even lose my Internet connection once. In fact, I used a combination of the Web, radio and TV to stay informed about what was happening, and I note the Washington Post has a story about online coverage of the hurricane.

New Orleans got lucky once again. Ivan veered north and east, much as the models predicted. Pensacola got hit worse than Mobile. Hmmm… Bonnie, Charles, Frances, now Ivan, and guess what? Hurricane Jeanne is taking aim. Florida is really taking a beating this season. And it’s an election year. Clearly, it’s a Republican plot.

We stayed home and rode out the storm, only it turned out there wasn’t much storm to ride out. I’m relieved, but I’m not patting myself on the back. I think Xy and I need to review our hurricane plans and be a little better prepared to leave or stay. I also want to know what exactly those worst case scenarios would mean. I’ve read lots of stories about 20 foot floods in the Quarter, but what would that mean for us in Mid-City? Would our second floor be submerged? Our house has about 30 windows; covering them all with plywood just doesn’t seem feasible. So are there some alternatives? I bet we could do something to better prepare our lower floor for a minor flood.