At 10:20 pm, I thought I heard thunder. I'm not sure... if it is, it's far off, but it's also "rolling" thunder. (It could be B-52s, I suppose.) The tops of the trees are swaying quite a bit and I can hear the wind in them. At ground level, the breeze is perfect for gentle flag fluttering.
These photos were taken about four hours ago near the intersection of I-20 and I-220 on the west side of Shreveport:
Looking to the south...
Looking to the north...
Satellite photo was taken about 2 hours before my sky photos...
Shelters here are not wanting more evacuees. Though the Shreveport Times reports that the shelter at CenturyTel center in Bossier City was supposed to reopen at 3:00 pm, at 7:00 pm highway signs still advised that local shelters were full.
(Hey, it could have been even more out of focus!) Shelters are apparently available in some of surrounding rural areas.
The Times is also advising local residents to get prepared by having three to four days of food, water and batteries on hand.
We've got all that, a generator and 10 gallons of gas, plus a spare pair of clean pajamas. I've never tried running my computer off the generator before. Don't you think a Pajama Pundit should have a laptop? (There's a Christmas hint for ya!) Not that it would matter... what are the odds the cable would be working?
In the 15 years I've lived in this house, we've had numerous power outages, most of them due to ice storms and lasting three or four days. One lasted seven. The city water service and natural gas have never been interrupted, and I don't expect them to be this time either.
Flooding will not be a problem. This house is at least 10 feet higher than our neighbor's and his isn't going to flood either.
I do expect to be without power. No one familiar with the area will bet against my assertion this neighborhood will be one of the first to go dark and the last to get power restored. Swepco's got a legacy to live up to.
UPDATE: 3:00 am - It's raining now, just a drizzle and the winds have lessened, if changed at all.
