Evacuation Day

Evacuation Day

Hurricanes are a part of year round daily life in New Orleans. If it’s not hurricane season we New Orleanians are talking about last year’s hurricane season and why we think this one will be different, better or worse. But when June 1 hits, our thought patterns heat up with the weather and spin faster and faster counter clockwise. Are we prepared? How are the levees doing? Do I have enough money to evacuate? Where will I go? There is a feeling in the air that no one can quite put his or her finger on but everyone feels it as much as they feel the humidity. If a hurricane is close enough, people start becoming instant friends with strangers at gas station and hardware stores. They ask, “When are you leaving?” or give helpful tips, “Make sure to bring toilet paper for the car trip!” We are a band of brothers and no longer strangers. People flood to the grocery stores for water, batteries and Spaghetti O’s. There is a certain amount of excitement and fear flashing in everyone’s eyes. Is this it? Is this what we’ve been hearing about for our whole lives or will we be back in three days hearing I Told You Sos? There are the realists who remind everyone – no one knows anything, be smart and do what you have to do. There are the alarmists, also known as TV weather people, who thrive on a good storm. The may as well join the sandwich boarded “The End Is Near” group. They wait all year to use the scary graphics and repetitive doom music. Between the Internet, voodoo rain dances and years of knowledge of vanishing wetlands everyone becomes a meteorologist and everyone has their opinion. Everyone believes it’s his or her opinion that is fact. People go round and round on whether they’ll leave or not. “I’ll leave if it’s a 3 or higher,” is commonly heard. Older people will often refuse to leave. They’ll say they made it though Camille, Betsy, or even Katrina. It’s been a few years since we’ve had a scare here in the city. Gustav was tough on us emotionally. We were scarred, scared and then, other than the contraflow, didn’t get much action. This promotes people to want to stay in the city if a storm is coming. Evacuation is taxing on a person’s wallet but also on the heart. The people of New Orleans are resilient but we live with broken hearts. Sometimes people forget it’s not usually during a hurricane that is the worst part; it is the aftermath that begins a second after the storm passes. As awful as an evacuation can be, it is also a bit thrilling. Sometimes the not knowing can be exciting. Everyone jumps to pack and leave as soon as they’ve done their preparations. Pack, fill the bathtub with water, call family and friends, turn off the gas, grab memories and paperwork and take insurance photos. Everyone wants to try to beat the traffic. There is a surge of emotion in the air. Driving, you meet other refugee’s eyes and there is no need to speak – everyone’s on the same wavelength inside with their blood pressure rising while remembering the waters rising. Hours and hours of driving take us slowly out of the city in our souls. Then there’s the waiting. Fate has a way to show who is boss and She’s in charge on evacuation day.

-Short Legs Magee