Waiting for Ike

A monstrously big hurricane is looming off the Texas Coast this morning. A gigantic swirling bully named Ike. He's expected to make landfall in the early morning hours Saturday, but long before that we will feel his hot breath on our necks.
Hurricanes are a part of living on the Gulf Coast. I have been through two. As a child there was Carla, the hurricane that made Dan Rather's career, and as a young mother we endured a week without electricity after Alicia. So we know a little bit about what is in store.
The build up to a hurricane is almost fun. You get to buy supplies and make plans and get prepared. Once the gas tank is full, the prescriptions are filled, the pantry is piled with canned goods (and you have a manual can opener), and there's a supply of bottled water, you are set.
Every TV weatherman in town is up around the clock telling you more than you ever wanted to know about the wind speed and barometric pressure.
But the time is going to come when the fun is over, and you know that this is not worth a day off of school. When you have to huddle in the hallway and listen to the windows rattle and the walls shake, it will stop being an adventure and start being real damn scary.
There has been a mandatory evacuation for the coastal and low-lying areas since 9:30 Thursday morning. It's now Friday morning, and the reporters are still seeing some people who say they are going to ride out the storm in Galveston. Mental illness has to be a part of the process for someone who thinks that it would be a good idea to remain in Galveston for the next twenty-four hours. I don't care what property you think you need to protect. If you don't understand that the looters won't be out in this weather, you don't have a grasp of the concept.
I just moved into my new classroom in the newly remodeled school where I teach. We've only been there for three weeks. I have never enjoyed a classroom as much. It is beautiful and shiny new from window blinds to dry erase boards. If Ike messes up my new classroom, I will be furious!
But, I have an idea that Ike is going to mess up a whole lot more than a schoolroom. This storm has killed nearly one hundred people as it moved across the Caribbean. We are in for an ordeal.
Right now we have power and the rain hasn't begun. We can still have hot coffee and blow dry our hair after a warm shower. I only hope that it's not a matter of weeks before we can enjoy those comforts again.
God bless Texas.