Zero Day has begun.

I guess there is a God of some sort, because Gustav weakened back to a 3 overnight. I dunno.

I'm now in a mandatory evacuation area as of about four hours ago. However, I'm on the barest edge of it, so I'm still staying put and hoping this place makes it again. This place will more than easily withstand tropical storm or Cat 1 winds, which seem now to be the consensus for this area. I should be far enough inland and high enough to withstand whatever surge there is.

I will be here until the end.

Every parish south of the lake is under mandatory evac now.

At this point, Gustav is drawing in some dry air and encountering some shear. This has caused it to drop from a Category 4 to a Cat 3 overnight. My hope is that these conditions will prevail upon the storm, but the fact is that it could strengthen again. It's also picked up forward momentum, meaning that while it may be more difficult to turn, it'll also rush through faster. At the speeds it had yesterday though... adding a couple miles per hour doesn't make much difference.

One day til landfall...