Well hell! Katrina is a Cat. 5 now which means a whole ****load of people are going to get hurt when she lands. It's also a very wide storm and getting bigger. We are on the Eastern side of the projected path and as any hurricane veterans know: "West is Best, East is the Beast!"
Anybody in So. Louisiana or So. Mississippi?
I am getting ready to go out and start attaching the plywood, moving the potted plants into the carport and tying stuff down. What a waste of a great weekend!
Our house is over 50 years old and survived Ivan, Frederic, Opal, Elena, Georges, Alberto and several others that just skirted the area with only minor damage, so we are probably riding it out. Ivan spawned a tornado that came through my back acreage and got to within about 100 feet of the house. It did the most damage this place has ever seen - knocking down more than 100 old-growth trees (75 feet tall), but it only knocked down a few of the bananas that were already here.
Of course I now have 10 times that many bananas growing, some more than 12-15 feet tall, and I am not real encouraged for this one! I am of the opinion that the wind shredding of the leaves is a natural function and will help cut the wind damage on the lee side of the bigger ones. I will not be removing any leaves.
I will update as possible, as I'm sure anyone else in the path will.