THIS IS THE BIG ONE!!!

I-10 east was totally clear of any traffic last night. It was 70mph the whole way to Pensacola. We'll catch the edge here, but there won't be any water events as there will be in New Orleans, where the levees will most likely be topped by 18-20 foot surges pushed up into Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi. After that, the only place for the water to go is into the streets, and into your homes.

This happened so fast. Most people were doing their normal Friday routines, with an eye on the hurricane as it left Florida. But the weather patterns were already lining up to steer the hurricane right up the lane for a ten-pin strike in New Orleans. Saturday morning, everything had changed.

Elsewhere, oyster mercifully found a way to make light of a VERY GRAVE situation with a clever reference to Katrina and the Waves over at Your Right Hand Thief. Thank god for people who can maintain a sense of humor. Other Louisiana bloggers, rob at realitique, Suspect Device, Dead Pelican, Yatpundit, Michael at 2Millionth Web Log - all are saying GET OUT OF NEW ORLEANS. It's probably the case that other Louisianians haven't had anything to contribute because they already boarded up their houses and got the hell out. You don't want to be there! This is it - this is the one everyone was worried about!

If there's any silver lining in this, it's that we'll finally know what the big one is - if that'll be worth anything at all after this.

Good luck friends! I'll see you on the other side.