Thousands left here Sunday in Southeast Texas after mandatory evacuations were ordered for Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties. I stayed and made some pretty good money freelancing. I’ve had three paid days off this week, so far, in my part-time job with Uncle Sugar. Gustav turned out to be a non-event where I live, thankfully. We got more wind and rain last night than when the storm brushed us when making landfall Monday.
I can’t say it wasn’t pleasant here during the evacuation. It was pleasant. It was refreshingly quiet. The breezes were heavenly. The temperature mostly perfect although some agonizing humidity of the type one gets in the subtropics still prevailed at times.
As far as I am concerned, and on a totally selfish level, I think officials made the right call calling for evacuations. As for my feelings geared toward the more altruistic realm, I also think the officials made the right call.
The weather service put our area under a hurricane watch only hours before Gustav hit the central and southeastern portions of Louisiana. It would not have been out of the ordinary had the storm stalled a bit, strengthened and then took a path over the western Louisiana coast and on in to our county as our blessed Rita did three years ago.
I am sure there will be a lot of second-guessing. And a lot of politics at the local level are always behind the decisions such as these and I am not all that impressed by some of those decision-makers. But this time the locals got it right. The weather service also got it right — about as right as they could at least from what it appears to me.
We aren’t wrecked and a lot of folks are enjoying this breezy, late, late summer day. So as far as I sees it (bad grammar and all): Mission accomplished. No, really, I mean it.