As Hurricane Rita, still a very strong category 4, moves on to Texas, we let out a huge sigh of relief. New Orleans will no doubt see some intense winds, but not a direct hit. It seems like Katrina was a good lesson for many in Texas and west Louisiana… so many folks on the news have been saying that they normally wouldn’t evacuate for a hurricane, but after Katrina, changed their minds.
My friend, Niki Wolf (formerly Peterman – you can see pictures from her visit to NOLA in the February archives), is in the touring company of Evita, currently showing in Houston. Her cast is stuck in the city, the prospect of leaving too daunting for a large cast with trucks and crew. They are holed up in the city’s Doubletree hotel and will be hunkering down among 600 guests to weather the storm in the interior hotel conference rooms.
Tulane University’s School of Public Health was temporarily set up in Houston and has shut down again. Our department (International Health and Development) head and several faculty were in Galveston; they’ve left. Two evacuations in a month! We have other friends in the area (like Bela’s brother and sister-in-law!) and are hoping that everyone is safe.
Meanwhile, friend Alex has tickets to fly into NOLA next Saturday. Paul is picking him up and they are planning on spending a few days in our city to assess damages to our homes and neighborhoods. Alex lives in a beautiful house in Lakeview, the charming family-oriented middle class neighborhood on the lake side of the city… a few short blocks from the 17th street levee breech. We are thankful that we don’t have the additional worry about this storm covering our thoughts.
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