Hurricane Ida is moving ashore in Louisiana, 1 MPH short of being a Category 5. There has already been a storm surge at Shell Beach (source).
On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
I have friends in New Orleans. My books are in a store in Houma. Had I made a different financial decision earlier in the year, and had Bouchercon not been canceled due to COVID, the likelihood that I would have been trying desperately for an earlier flight home from the Crescent City because of this storm is 100 percent. I might have had to call on one of those NOLA friends for evacution help.
This is all very sobering on a personal level, to say the least. I remember watching the news of Hurricane Katrina and feeling so helpless. All I could do was throw money at the situation from afar … and pray. I had not yet visited New Orleans in 2005, but I’d long been fascinated by the city.
Now, I’ve been there a few times and, as you all know, it owns a piece of my heart. Bayou Fire is set there.
And, again, I have friends there. All of them are in my prayers.
Sharon E. Cathcart 