Hi LI Phil,

I'm from Pascagoula, MS. Hurricane Elena was my first experience with hurricanes. My husband and I had only been married five years. We lived in our first house (apartment life before that). We sort of got concerned when Elena threatened the first time but then she turned toward Florida and I forgot all about it. Later on that weekend, we went out to dinner. When we got back in the car, we turned on the radio and the announcer said that one of the senarios possible for Elena was a U-turn back to Mississippi. I remember saying, "that sucker is gonna turn around and come back and get us." I still was not overly concerned. I had never been through a hurricane. We were transplants to the coast.
Sunday aftermoon comes and my husband and I are out mowing the lawn, weeding, and etc. We finally noticed all of the activity going on. We went inside and watched the weather bulletins. That "sucker" was coming straight for us!
Anyway, to make a long story shorter we evacuated and were safe but we were shocked when we got home. Pascagoula looked like a war zone. We were without power for a week. We had no phone for two weeks. Our first home no longer had a front porch. It was on the back patio.
I learned what hurricanes can do from a very fickle lady. And then came GEORGES! Talk about FICKLE.
So you see, I listen and watch but I don't put much stock in landfall predictions. Thought you might like to hear my Elena story. My Georges story is even more interesting. I stayed through that one -- not by choice. If you've got time I'll tell you sometime.