In the path of a hurricane

Austin, TX -- I left Houston yesterday afternoon on my way to Austin as thousands of people were fleeing the city in advance of Hurricane Ike.

I had flown to Houston on Wednesday, September 10 because I didn't want to fly on September 11. As a New Yorker who lived through the horrific 9/11 attacks, something about flying on that day just didn't feel right.

But I left a former disaster zone and flew into a new one. I came to Austin for a speech I have to give this morning at a conference, but unlike many of the people who jammed the highways to get here with me, I'm scheduled to go back to Houston later today, just as the first edge of the storm comes barreling into the city.

I don't know if it's a good idea to go back to Houston or not. I came here with my mom, and she drove me 4 hours to get here from her home in Houston. Her husband is still in Houston, and we have to decide soon if we should go back or not. I think she wants to go back and be at her own house with her husband. I, on the other hand, just want us all to be safe.

Living in the north, I never really thought about hurricanes before. Even the prospect of Hurricane Ike didn't actually scare me until I got a disturbing e-mail alert from CNN last night at 9:04 p.m..

The message said: "People sheltering at ground level at Galveston Bay when Hurricane Ike hits face 'certain death, the weather service warns."

Certain death! That scared the hell out of me.

I'd never heard of anything like that, and although we weren't planning to go to Galveston, we were planning to go right next door to Houston. At this point, we still haven't figured out what to do, and I keep checking the weather every few minutes to see if the storm has somehow miraculously changed course. But I don't think it will.

I have a Saturday flight from Houston to New York that looks like it will be cancelled. It's around the same time when the hurricane is supposed to strike Houston, but as of the time of this writing, I haven't been able to get in touch with Continental Airlines to change my flight. The phone lines at the airline were jammed for much of the evening, and even when I finally got through around midnight, the message warned me that I would have to wait at least 10 to 15 minutes to speak to anyone. I'm on hold right now as I type this.

As the editor of this news site, I personally read and review every article that gets posted here. Usually that's a good policy, although sometimes it slows down the posting of new news when I'm not available to approve it. But under the circumstances today, I don't know if we will be able to post anything new for Friday. It all depends on what happens with the hurricane.

I've read about hurricanes for years and heard about them from a couple of friends who've survived them, but you have no idea how the experience will affect you until you're confronted with the prospect of a "monster storm" coming right at you. Suddenly it's not just a news story anymore; it's real life.

I was watching Anderson Cooper on CNN last night when he asked the network meteorologist if he should stay in Houston or go to Galveston to report on the storm for Friday. The weatherman told him to stay put. How could you even think of going to Galveston when officials are warning residentst there that they will die if they don't evacuate?

So here I am, stuck in Texas, facing a storm that could cause massive damage. I hope and pray that the people of Galveston and Houston will be safe. And I pray my family and I will be safe as well.