I lived in El Paso from the age of 1 til I was 6! I could speak fluent Spanish, not even kidding. I've also lived in Buffalo, NY...so I've lived in the desert, the snow, AND the beach. It's awesome =)

Excellent suggestion. But shhhh!

Maybe but I don't want to have to navigate a mountain road in an ice storm. How about Southwest Virginia? Roanoke is lovely. Its location in a valley shields you from most of the really bad weather.

I like growing up in Birmingham because I could sit in my bed and night and watch the lightning and thunderstorms roll in (my windows faced west) and we didn't get horrible weather in the winter. You would get the yucky winter rain and maybe an occasional freezing rain storm but once it got into the Carolinas it was a few inches of ice. No thank you. I'll take a light freezing rain and power to ice on the trees and power lines and no power for a few days.

maybe we'll finally get a Six Flags!! lol


As much as I want to move away, El Paso has a certain charm about it. It's like our own little bubble in the desert.

A friend of mine is in law school in New Orleans, and she just sent a myspace bulletin that said that the school was going to be closed for tomorrow (and maybe longer) and that there is a mandatory evacuation.

I'm not sure if the whole city is evacuating, or if it was just the school.

New Orleans is ready to evacuate and they are doing a lot more than they did with Katrina. They have said there will be NO shelters within the city and they have a whole program to get people out who need assistance, don't have transportation, etc. They have moved food and water into Louisiana already. Seems like they did, indeed, learn from their mistakes so hopefully, even if the levees don't hold, there won't be loss of life. I read an article trying to analyze whether the levees are ready for this and the gist of was that they are NOT ready.

ETA: Some evacuations are actually beginning. This website has details: http://www.nola.com/

I'm in the process of evacuating as we speak, I live in Southwest Louisiana less than 50 miles from the gulf. I'm headed out to Austin, Texas bright and early, well actually it'll be dark, but ya know.

Good luck!! Being to the east, I am extremely concerned with tornadoes and such. Our home is about 100 feet from the water, and we are building right next door. Luckily all that is finished is the foundation and first floor concrete.

Good luck - hope you escape it all in Austin (sometimes they get rain and/or tornadoes. Yikes!)

My father is going to be grand-pooba in charge of the Elks special needs camp if it looks like it will once again serve as a shelter - so he will certainly be going there. I'm not as keen to leave quite yet - we'll see.

ive been through one, it was quite a living hell, an experience i do not wish upon anyone, certainly not one im trying again.

You'll be in our thoughts! Let us know how things turn out when you can.

Oh yes - this isn't my first rodeo. If it is a category 3 or above, and coming in at Galveston, it might be in my best interest to head north. Category 1 or 2 - I should be okay. I'm northwest of the coast, and we usually don't get more than a bunch of rain and some rough winds. Again, I'm tracking the storm - you are right, Nate - it's no fun.:(

I'm heading down to the bay in the morning with my 16 year old in tow to put up the ply-wood at my dad's house. He'll make the decision whether to evac yet or not. Hopefully it won't be needed if the thing goes east of him, which, right now, looks to be the case.

I hate hoping it hits somewhere else, it makes me feel guilty!! Prayers for all...

After reading all these posts, I may just decide to stay in Chicago instead of moving somewhere south for the warmer weather (North or South Carolina probably, we have also considered West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee). A couple of years ago we almost bought a home in San Antonio which is my very favorite city. I think I'd like El Paso too because I just love Texas.

Anyhow, Chicago is not too bad, weather-wise. The fall and spring is fine. The summers have been hot & nasty. As long as we don't get too much snow, its ok in the winter. But we don't have floods or hurricanes, and tornadoes visit but don't touch down around here. You guys are scaring me. I can't imagine having to evacuate. I hope nobody has to.

Aunt in Port Arthur is evacuating to Georgetown tomorrow. They were hit hard by Rita and out of their house for about one month. Katrina did some damage too, so they are not taking any chances.