History Lesson

It's time.

Beginning tomorrow, I'll be heading into the teeth of the storm, wherever that may be. 'Polisher is already out ahead of it. I'm not envious, I had preparations to make at home first.

In the six years that I've been working for the Deuce, I've covered Hurricane's Lili, Ivan (LA and AL aftermath), Katrina, and Rita, not to mention a few tropical storms in-between. Most of those were faced with a bit of trepidation, but that disappeared when I was in the thick of coverage.

Lili was my first, and I was scared sitting in Morgan City staring down a Cat. 5 storm. Luckily it weakened significantly before landfall. It was a good first storm.

Ivan found me in Buras, the southernmost tip of the boot. I spent 3 days there after it turned and hit the AL coast. A week later I was in Orange Beach covering the aftermath and the Gonzalez Jambalya Festival crew who was cooking free food for the workers and citizens.

Katrina was spent in Baton Rouge, because our management deemed the storm too dangerous to send us to New Orleans. I think it was a good play.

Rita hit home, literally. I missed out on the pre-storm trip to Cameron, and it was three days after the storm when I finally got to see the damage to my hometown.

This time it's different. I've got more on the line than I have in years past, and I really wish I could stay with my family. I can't ensure their saftey either way, but I want to be there for them, and hug them close when they're scared.

I can't do that from the inside of a sat truck, but you better believe that I will be doing everything to make sure that I stay safe to come home when the storm is gone.