I think I'm moving to Canada!!! Well...not really...but I sure do want to right about now!!! It must be really nice living up there...not having to pack up all of your valuables/paperwork/keepsakes every time you turn around....pack all three of your kids and your DH in a car and run for the hills....LITERALLY!!! I live in Fairhope, AL....if you look at the state, where the indent is on the bottom - that's Mobile Bay...I'm on the east side of it. Well...it seems like every hurricane (of any real size) for the past 2 years has been "projected" to make landfall right up Mobile Bay.

Last year, during Ivan...I was 9 months pregnant....had to pack up 2 kids, everything that was important to us, and go to Atlanta. My nurse-midwife said that if I stayed, the drop in the barometric pressure would put me into labor! Soooo...we go. On our way home, the day after the hurricane hit Pensacola, FL/Gulf Shores, AL (which is 20 minutes south of my house) we were about 250 miles north of my town and I went into labor!! So I just went straight to the hospital and had my baby about 30 minutes later! That was an insane time....our home was intact, but our land was a MESS!! My husband had to cut his way up our driveway with a chainsaw. We were totally blessed, compared to everyone in Pensacola & down at the beach here in Alabama, but it's still a very frustrating thing to have to keep packing up and leaving and watching everything on tv and just praying that you have a home to go back to. If I didn't have 3 kids, I'd stay put, probably.

So...we're pulling out the boxes of pictures and cards, taking pictures off the walls, getting my DH grandmother's silver, gathering SS# cards and insurance info, car titles,etc, etc, etc...Thank God I never unpacked the kids suitcase from the last hurricane about 2 months ago that we left for. Something told me to just keep it ready. I took the biggest suitcase I have and just stuffed it with their clothes...at least my kids will be clothed if our home is gone - that's what I tell myself. You just never can tell what these storms will do & it's not worth it to hang around.....but it's a really stressful thing to deal with over and over and over again. This whole area - Baldwin County, AL and over in Escambia County (Pensacola)FL is just now beginning to get back to normal in a number of ways.....it's taken a year for things to really start to resemble what they were this time last year before Ivan....then again, other things/people/places will never be the same...they're just different and "recuperated" so to say.

Sorry to ramble....it just really does a number on me. Thanks for letting me vent !

[quote="JennT"]I think I'm moving to Canada!!! Well...not really...but I sure do want to right about now!!! It must be really nice living up there...not having to pack up all of your valuables/paperwork/keepsakes every time you turn around....pack all three of your kids and your DH in a car and run for the hills....LITERALLY!!! I live in Fairhope, AL....
Haha, oh sure tease us and then change your mind, haha! Well, if you do, stay away from Barrie and certain other areas here. Not that it has happened often or is widespread, but they do get tornadoes, just not as devastating. We do get icestorms where the trees can come down and the power can go out and such.
Seriously though, I cannot imagine what you folks that deal with these things all the time, have to go through. I feel for you kiddo, it must be scarey and disrupting and worrisome.
Hope all goes well. The main thing is to survive! Our prayers are always with you folks!
Hugs SQuirrelly

From a FL girl... I feel your pain. We still have pictures and important documents packed up from last year, plenty of water, a grill, lots of canned food, flashlights, batteried, ect! I think I'm becoming a pro at hurrican tracking, and predicting their twists and turns. Hope you and your family are safe, and just think... If you lived out west you could have earthquakes or tornados without any warning. At least a hurricane gives us a little time to gather our family and get ready!

On a lighter note we had lots of babies born around here in May... lots of days without power last August!

Hurricanes can hit the coast of Newfoundland, so if you move to Canada, stay away from there, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly

I can relate well to this topic myself .. being only an hour and a half from the Gulf of Mexico, we have manage to "dodge the bullet" so to speak ... I feel so bad for Floridians .. it seems like every hurricane has hit them, the Florida panhandle or the Alabama, Mississippi areas... I can only imagine out frustrating it must be to have to pack all the belongings you can carry with you and run from the storm ... My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family!!

Thanks, ladies....don't mean to be a downer, but I just really needed to vent a little. Can't vent to my DH, 'cause he's over at his parent's house getting it ready just in case...they're in Utah right now....and their house is one street over from ours on the river...which empties out into Mobile Bay. It always floods there. He has to bring everything in from the dock, everything from the yard (tables, chairs, fishing rods, crab traps, lights etc.) put down the hurricane shutters and lastly....raise all of the appliances in the downstairs kitchen up with chains going over the rafters and elevate all of the furniture onto sawhorses. It used to be a screened in giant room down there, but they eventually closed it in...there's a big great room thingy, utility room, bathroom, kitchen & bedroom. During Ivan the water was up to 3 feet high & it was a Category 3 when it hit land, so we don't want to take any chances this time

I know - everywhere you go there's something. And you're right about having some warning & time to prepare. Can't imagine what it's like for those out west with the quakes!! Yikes! And tornado country too...my goodness!

Squirrelycakes - if I DO move to Canada...I'm going smack-dab in the middle of it!! lol

ntertayneme - It's been forever since a big hurricane hit Lousiana, right? I know that last year they had lots of flooding around NOLA, but no storms actually landed there, right? Let's hope this one doesn't come ya'll's way either....but then it would hit the people in Mississippi....which is closer to me....or it could go way west to Texas....don't want to wish it on anyone else, but don't want it to hit wherever we are......UUGGHH - so let's just pray that this one somehow mysteriously disentegrates and vaporizes into thin air!!! lol

Well kiddo, never mind the smack dab in the middle of it, come on over to where I am, haha! Mind you, we are on an earthquake fault, though nothing has happened in many, many, many years, we do get really mild tremors. Haha, me having used to work in Reinsurance and dealt with hurricanes and tornado and earthquake large losses, I am likely the only person in the city that pays for earthquake insurance, haha!
But all kidding aside, I have no idea of what you folks go through, just what I see on the news and it breaks my heart to imagine the sense of loss. So we have you in our prayers kiddo!
Hugs Squirrely

I know EXACTLY how you (anyone w/in a 300 mi radius of hurricane area) feel!! Even those not directly in the path have to deal w/a couple hundred thousand+ people fleeing and coming thier way!!!!

But just dealing w/the preparation is enough to make me a little crazy!!! We've been fighting gas lines for two days now!!! AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! There aren't too many places in town to get it right now...and if they do have gas.....there are lines...long lines!! Can make ANYONE a little cranky!! We're not leaving our house for the next couple of days.....people are getting crazy and MEAN!!!

We've got all our stuff from the last couple hurricanes....so we are just going to sit tight...and whatever happens...happens...pray and find a way to deal with it!!

Thank you so much, Squirrelycakes! I think we might need to start praying for those over in Louisiana & Mississippi too, though. From the latest on the weather channel, they've changed their projection just a little bit to include more of those areas as well.....I hate this wait & see game these hurricanes play! lol Let's hope all of us down here are able to get at least a LITTLE sleep tonight!

Oh geesh PinkBunny, you must be quite a hurricane expert by now! You poor folks in Florida!
Hope all goes well JennT! And for anyone else that is in the path!
Geesh, I bet with all of your hurricane preparedness exposure, you ladies can clean up a cake decorating kitchen mess in record speed! Like a hurricane just swept through the kitchen right?
While the rest of us are complaining about the cost of gas, you are just hoping to get some!
Hugs Squirrelly

I was just thinking today as I was watching CNN that I am so glad I don't live in Florida! My mother works in an extended stay hotel in Houston, and every time LA, MS, AL get evacuated, they always fill up with people that have spend hours and hours stuck in traffic on I-10 trying to get out of the way of the hurricane. We're just far enough away from the coast that all we usually get is some rain.

I hope you come out of this well, and take some cake for the road!

Ali

Funny you mention GAS, squirrelycakes....as we speak ( at 11:08 my time) my DH is at the gas station in our duely-diesel pickup filling it up...as well as every gas can he could find and a 55-gallon drum!! lol We usually keep gas in it at home for the tractor, lawn mowers (landscaping business), etc., as well as for the boat...that way we're not going to the gas station every time we turn around. But the drum was empty, and down here and at Gulf Shores, just 20 minutes down the road, everyone is already freaking out!! There were lines at the gas stations out to the streets at 10 pm....the stations around here usually close by then, but they're staying open tonight, of course, with all the business. Bet they'll all start running out by tomorrow afternoon. My DH is just sick of this whole fuel shortage (temporary as it usually is) every time a hurricane even looks our way!! lol

I haven't heard from hubby in a while....wonder if he's having to go from station to station to fill everything up?? Oh well...I'm sure he'll surface by sun-up!! lol

Geesh, poor man is going to be in a really good mood by the time he makes it home, right?
Hugs Squirrely Cakes

Strangely enough...he gets EXCITED when a hurricane's coming????!!!!! He's nuts!! lol He's been that way ever since he was a kid....I married a certifiable NUT!!!!! lol He's concerned, don't get me wrong - and he does all the hard work to get prepared and take care of us all, but he sort of thrives off of the craziness, I guess. He does it all with a happy face and just keeps going until everything's done....then he sits back & watches the weather channel and keeps going outside and checking on everything until it gets really bad. Then when it's all over he just goes right to work with the chainsaw or rake or whatever has to be done....I swear he's the energizer bunny!!!! lol

pinkbunny - it looks like P'cola and that whole area will be spared this go 'round....it's about time!!! lol It looks like it's going even further west now, but not far enough to miss us completely. Being on the east side (the worst side, of course) of the storm, I think we still might get lots of wind and rain here. We'll probably go to my in-laws house...it's been there since Hurricane Frederick and made it through all of them. Being on the river, though, it'll flood...but at least we'll be right there to start the clean-up as soon as the water recedes,since they're out of town right now...plus they have a generator in case we lose power.

I'll check in later on with ya'll.....

Yes, keep us posted when you can! I think it is great that he has that attitude, makes it easier to deal with things!
Good luck!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I think if you move to Canada you need to move way up here where I am.. All we get is tons and tons of snow.. no floods.. earthquakes or hurricanes.. My heart goes out to you.. I can't imagine what it would be like packing up three little ones at a moments notice.. Our prayers are with you Jenn.

Every winter i complain about the snow but i'll take the snow over the hurricans anyday. Good luck and stay safe!

Cady

Thanks, everyone!! For now, we're staying around....will re-evaluate in the morning, though. These hurricanes are so unpredictable....overnight it could do a hook back more eastward....but let's hope not!

We've got all the papers/valuables, etc. over at my in-laws house in their giant safe...they don't have any loads of cash to put in that thing, though (darn-it!! lol)...it's just for times like this. They've stored things in it over the years for all of their neighbors, friends, other relatives....it's so great to have access to one!

Man...would I love to live somewhere where it snows for at least one winter! I've only seen snow here twice in my lifetime, and I'm 31! Once when I was about 9 and again when I was 19/20...and I mean snow that fell and stuck to the ground overnight...long enough for everything to be white when I woke up in the morning. But once the sun was up it only lasted for a couple of hours But even that is a big deal when it happens down here! DH and I have decided that at least a couple of times while the kids are little, we're gonna go away somewhere for Christmas where it REALLY snows!! Like Colorado or Wyoming or something like that. Hopefully we'll get to do it next year....

Been there, done that........just went thru Katrina in Miami. We certainly did not think it was going to be so much damange, after all it was just a tropical storm with heavy rain going to Broward County. Well, it decided to go SE as a Cat. 1. We didn't even got a chance to put up the shutters. We got down trees, luckily we are all OK. They say it will be a Cat. 4 before it hits again.

I know we can't prevent this b/c its Mother Nature doing her business but you have to look at the "good" side of these things..... At least we are informed when they are coming.

I really had a horrible time back when Andrew came (Cat. 5), I had given birth to my son, Michael the Friday night before Andrew. He ended up having problems and I had to leave him in the hospital (I got kicked out b/c they had to make room for those that were in their last trimester). He spend the Hurricane in an ICU powered by generators. To make things worse, gas was impossible to get and the when we got any, we saved it to go see Michael at the hospital everyday. Andrew also we didn't know till Saturday that it was headed our way.

I guess it could of been worse there too, we lived in an appt. and we didn't get any damage. I really feel for those that got their houses destroyed.

So after going thru Andrew, I am thankful, that nothing yet, has been that bad. I don't plan on leaving here, all my family is here.

Just remember things could really be worse, at least you're with your family and you are safe....that is what is important....everything else you CAN replace.

Regards, Naty

Hi other Floridians

Hope everyone came out okay. over where I was there was a lot of downed trees and flooding and poweroutages. otherwise I think everyone surrvived okay. Take care Everyone.

JennT,
I live in Toronto. Last week we got a massive rainfall and a small tornado hit some towns just north of us. I have to say that I was really scared and I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for you.

Take care
Daniela

Well I am here in Slidell, LA (slidell is on the northshore of the lake above new orleans) and we have been out all day boarding the house, getting water and food, bringing the boat in and sandbagging the sunroom.

Keep us in your prayers and New Orleans too. If New Orleans gets a direct hit it will be the "big one" that everyone has dreaded. The rain on the east side of the hurricane will drive the water up the mouth of the Mississippi River and flood all the lakes and water areas dumping the water over levee into New Orleans which sits like a bowl.

My mother lives in New Orleans, 100ft from a broken levee, on the Westbank (for all you locals out there) and if this is the big one she will be under water. Lets put it this way.... I lived about a mile away from her before I moved to Slidell and you stood on my front porch and looked UP to see the ships going along the river. My step kids freaked out the first time they came to my house and saw that. They were like, "Is that a ship? IN THE RIVER? UP THERE?"

So far we are not leaving but we are waiting for tomorrow to see for sure.

Good Luck and God Bless to everyone along the Gulf of Mexico!

bj

Thoughts and prayers are with you all. Such a scary thing! I am glad that at least most of the time you have warning. A couple of my friends have boys that moved down to Florida (about 5 or 6). Thought they needed to "have a story to tell" when they were older! Their mothers are ready to have a heart attack! lol Anyway, you all take care and stay safe!!

I received a call earlier that we are now on alert to work at emergency shelters.. I'm expecting a call out at any moment to leave .. I was told to pack clothes for 5 days and expect to stay if Louisiana sustains a direct hit .. so remember all of the New Orleans/Slidell, Houma areas in your prayers.. this hurricane could possibly be a category 4 before landfall on Monday .. right now they're say a category 3 but they're not ruling out it possibly being stronger.. not looking good for us down here..

Ok.. I just got the call out to work the shelters... I'll be gone for a few days.. cya all later.. pray for us here in Louisiana that Hurricane Katrina doesn't hit us too hard!!

Be safe Cheryl!!

JennT and all you folks in her path. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

I like many of you wish she would decide on a course so we could be better prepared I am also on call to open shelters for you folks coming up thru AL. We usually get the wind damage and lots of rain when it hits to the west of us. and of course I live in a town that always floods. My house has been under water 3 times in the past 15 years, learned a long time time ago that come March you pack up things you want and need to keep and keep in the car. People say that I can live out of my car!!!!HA!! But in 1990 I lost everything except the house have no baby pictures of the girls. I usually put pictures etc back up for Christmas.

My Mom told me this afternoon that I was really stressed but I have a child in Mobile and one in Mississippi and don't know exactly what to tell either of them at the present. Please keep them in your prayers also.

Keep us updated on your situations. May God keep each of you in the palms of His hands.

You know what? I will take my earth quakes anytime! You folks in the south get warnings, but you have so many every year! I just couldn't do it.
You all have my prayers!

Debbi

We're getting thunderstorms from Katrina...ugh..
My son lives in Flordia, and he's had his share of hurricanes....
I feel and pray for all that are in her path..
Take care..
cakegal

I keep checking out the Weather Network and it doesn't look good for a lot of our cake buddies around Louisiana! Six deaths in Florida too. You are all in my thoughts and in my prayers! Hope you are all safe!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes