Tropical Storm Isaac

Tropical Storm Isaac blew in on Friday, bringing strong winds and lots of rain, but luckily mostly not at the same time. The strongest winds were on Friday, while Saturday we were hit with intense rain and subsequent flooding of roads and overflowing of rivers.

We did our best to prepare, stocking up on food and water (of which we always have ample supply, actually), taping the most vulnerable windows, and filling the bathtub and basins with water. Then we hunkered down and spent the time cooking and surfing the internet, ironically. Our building's generator(s) is pretty reliable and I often don't even notice when the power goes off and the generator switches on. So we were really lucky.

But outside my privileged world, it was a different story.

The media is reporting a few deaths, 25,000 displaced people, 5,000 destroyed homes, and 116 communities cut off from the rest of the country due to washed out roads or bridges.

It's not the worst this country has seen, and I think everyone is glad about that. But that fact is no comfort to the people who lost everything. Isaac wreaked havoc in Haiti and is now heading toward the Gulf Coast. My thoughts are with that region now, feeling grateful that we were spared great devastation and hoping the same for everyone else.