Running From Hurricane Laura

Well, I survived major hurricane #6 since 2005, Hurricane Laura. And, I have to admit, I’m completed knackered, as they would say in the UK.

If you haven’t been following my journey on Facebook, Eric and I made a last-minute decision to evacuate Wednesday, August 26. From Tuesday night to Wednesday night, Laura strengthened from a Category 3 storm to a strong Category 4, and predictions were that she would become a Category 5. A Category 5 hurricane, for those of you not in the know, is the most dangerous level a hurricane can reach, with winds in excess of 157 mph. Additionally, a 20-foot storm surge was predicted, which would not have been survivable.

Fortunately, I woke up early Wednesday morning and read this dreaded prediction. At that point we had nothing packed and nowhere to go. I woke Eric up with the grim news, and he agreed we needed to get the heck outta here. So, we rapidly threw some stuff into bags to last several days.

In the meantime, I was online, desperately trying to find a hotel for us to rent. Most within a 200-mile radius had no vacancies, as there had been a multiple-county mandatory evacuation order for about 600,000 people. The closest I could find…