No need for you to get ready, this one's heading for us (again).

Man, you guys are getting hit pretty hard at the moment I have to confess to having a certain vested interest in Florida, but even outside of that I hope everyone will be ok. Please be careful out there.

My pops is in Tampa. I hope he dodges this one...but I'd actually rather have him get hit then NO take another one on the chin. Those people have had enough.

We're first-world infrastructure. We should be able to handle whatever happens, assuming reasonable competence on the part of the authorities. But poor Haiti; they've been hit by two hurricanes in the last two weeks, and another monster is passing close by; they could easily be hit directly by a third.

THOSE are the people I'm mostly worried about right now.

One of the most respected of the MeFites, who lives in Louisiana, but not New Orleans proper, posted about his experiences with Gustav.

Short version: not good at all. They got really messed up, but it didn't make headlines because New Orleans didn't drown this time.

Another storm would be much worse there than I'd realized; I didn't know it was this bad.

I realize we can't stop hurricanes but for God sakes we can do something to minimize their devastation in cities like New Orleans. If our sitting government had half a clue they'd get the Dutch engineers on the phone then get them on a plane to New Orleans.

They are the world experts on flood prevention and I'm sure they could properly engineer a flood control system.

I don't think that Dutch Engineers are known for their construction of Hurricane resistant locks and keys, when was the last time they had to deal with them?

I also agree that we should be able to handle weather at this point, but I think that outsourcing isn't the answer, and better allocating or own resources is.

Actually, New Orleans is 300 years old and the original footprint is quite a bit above sea level. It did not flood in Katrina, either. You may have heard it called "the sliver by the river". The parts that flooded are in areas that 100 years ago were swamp. So before you go spouting off like you know what you're talking about, do a little homework.

Edit: Also, Robear is right. 300 years ago (100 years ago, even), New Orleans was much more inland than it is now.

I have to admit my amusement regarding the fact that the first two "it's heading for me" posts were from FL and LA. Personally, I'm glad and relieved that Ike is coming to TX instead of either of those two storm-battered states - we need the rain.

Okay, who's in the path of this bad boy? Heading to church in the morning and I want to know who to add to the prayer list. Or "good thoughts, positive karma" list if you prefer. Whichever, I want to throw a few up for you.

Large Hurricane Ike Poised To Impact Texas

So around 7am on Saturday the Hurricane is going to make landfall just south of Houston if it continues on the current track. All you GJer Houston/Galveston types better be packing up at this point. Us here in College Station, TX are going to be experiencing either Cat 1 Hurricane force winds or Tropical Storm weather. Either way it's going to rain like hell.

Check out the path:

Check out the number of Oil Rigs in the Gulf. All those little dots are oil rigs.

If you experience anything in this storm and have some pictures afterwards post them up here.

Yeah, Jeff Masters is saying that this thing has a veritable sh*t-ton of the Gulf in motion. They're predicting the surge to be as bad or worse than Katrina. Better go fill up today or tomorrow. Good luck, Galveston.

My offer, of course, extends to any of the Houston GWJ crew who might be seeking refuge. I merely singled out Pharacon because I knew he recently moved there from California(?) and wasn't sure if he had any family around here.

Didn't you just have an earthquake up there, Mutton? Those things have a high pucker factor.

Hey guys checking in! Last few minutes in the apartment so last few minutes of fast internet. Thinking about bailing out and heading north-west. But this will more then likely depending on tomorrow. Thanks for the offer Grump, pm'd you my email if you would forward your cell incase I need to use it.

My new house is all loaded down with all my crap but has a ton of insurance to boot. went out got a ton of water and canned food. The neighbors I spoke to this morning said we should be good because Rita didn't mess up our section other than a few trees blown over.

The squeegee push room is locked into "ready" position.