It’s amazing how much news can change in just one day. Last I’d heard, Hurricane Katrina had barely been a Category 1 hurricane. And then I read in Yahoo! News that it had grown while crossing the Gulf of Mexico and is now a Category Five! As of this afternoon, its winds were up to 175 mph!! It’s now the second strongest hurricane ever recorded (the worst being the Labor Day hurricane in Florida in 1935). Hurricane-force winds are being felt over 100 miles away from the center of it. Now THAT’S a big storm!

Pretty much everyone in New Orleans (hundreds of thousands of people) has been told to leave. And quickly. Worst estimates are saying the French Quarter will be severely flooded, because the storm surge could be up to 28 feet!

Say a prayer for the people who live and work down there, if you’re so inclined. And also for the oil rigs in the Gulf, which, if destroyed (they’ve already been evacuated), could add to the increasing gas prices.

Current music: Daylight, Moonlight: Live in Yakushiji, by Kitaro