I’m absolutely exhausted and I have to get up and work tomorrow morning, and I can’t sleep.
An uncertain job situation (which I will not go into here, mostly because it would take pages to explain) is the main cause of it, though the angst from that seems to be bleeding into other parts of my life.
It’s left me totally restless. The fact that there’s something interesting on CNN (the possible transformation of New Orleans, Louisiana into Atlantis) is not helping.
The banter between Carol Costello, the anchor and Chad Myers, the weatherman, is twistedly amusing. Take this bit from about 4:15am Eastern time:
Costello: My favorite description this morning, and I shouldn’t say favorite because that’s probably the wrong adjective, but the difference between a category 4 and a category 5 is the difference between getting hit by an 18 wheeler and a train.
Myers: (hesitating) OK…I’ll buy that. Sure.
Costello: It came from the National Hurricane Center.
Myers: Oh, OK.
(pause)
Costello: We’re gonna take a short break…
I spent this whole weekend trying to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get this week, and now that I at least came close to finally feeling like a human again, I can’t sleep.
But as I hear figures like, “Projections show the area around the Superdome could be under up to 20 feet of water,” I realize that as ridiculous as my life has gotten recently, it could be a whole, whole lot worse.
Edited to add: And now Anderson Cooper has arrived in Baton Rouge. Because while Miles O’Brien lashed to a tree is good, Anderson Cooper lashed to a tree is ratings gold.
so I was reading Miles O’Brien’s hurricane blog and came across this little comment on CNN’s Chad Myers. To put it in context, it’s 5:40am ET, the calm before Katrina hits.
“Every time I listen to CNN’s Chad Myers, I learn something new. He is more than a meteorologist. He is a walking, talking encyclopedia of knowledge. I cannot think of an occasion when I have stumped him on — or off — the air.“
And because Google giveth a wealth of information, the descriptions of category 4 and 5 hurricanes:
Category Four Hurricane:
Winds 131-155 mph. Storm surge generally 13-18 ft above normal. More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain lower than 10 ft above sea level may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 6 miles (10 km).
Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph. Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Only 3 Category Five Hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records began: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Camille (1969), and Hurricane Andrew in August, 1992. Hurricane Andrew of 1992 made landfall over southern Miami-Dade County, Florida causing 26.5 billion dollars in losses–the costliest hurricane on record.