And the rains came...

"She had come like a thief in the night. ...and one by one dropped the revellers. ...and died each in the despairing posture of her fall. ...and Darkness and Decay and the Death held illimitable dominion over all." - adapted from Poe

Life is different now. More different for others than it is me. But different nonetheless. I'm not going to list statistics and breaking stories because I think we've all seen enough of that this week. But I am going to put a link here to the American Red Cross so that we can all do our part.

As you may remember, I am/was scheduled to be in Jackson, MS next week for my job. Watching the news all week I wasn't really sure if Jackson was spared due to it's geographic location being slightly north of ground zero. I'll admit that I was somewhat relieved to hear: 1) that my client is ok. 2) My trip was canceled.

Instead of getting all your news from blood-thirsty TV networks trying to outscoop each other, take a gander at this email excerpt that was sent out to our project team regarding the actual conditions in Jackson.

"Hi all,

I just spoke with [Client], and he gave me an update on the status of going to Jackson. He says that there are still thousands of people without power in Jackson (himself included) and it could be a while yet before all is restored. [Client's agency] still has no email or internet connection and they don't know when that will be restored. The Traffic Engineering group will be mobilized to assist in recovery efforts, but they can't yet get to the coast. [Client] expects that they will be able (and required) to do that about the time we are scheduled to get there. There
are no hotels available and there is no gasoline for sale in Jackson (people have lined up for 8 hours based on the promise that a truck is coming later in the day)."

Now look how far north Jackson is from the coastline. I'd imagine being along the coast would be a living hell.