It is an absolute risk. On the other hand, I'm more worried about being in 10-12 feet of water this time thursday. As a hurricane passes east of New Orleans, it counter clockwise flow is filling lake Pontchatrain. As the storm passes, the winds shift, possibly overcoming the seawall and filling the city with water.

Absolute worst case scenario is that a Cat 4-5 goes up the mouth of the Mississippi. I don't even want to think about that.

All that being said, if the storm surge is greater than 12-14 feet, the levee system is underwater and the city gets flooded. Even though we have the best pumping systems in the world, if there's nowhere to pump water TO, it's rather moot. And of course, since I made the first post, the danger cone has shifted west, so we're in more danger than we were yesterday, although it looks as though it will be to our east. This is good news, as the most rain from a hurricane is dumped on the east side. Most places around here can handle the winds, just not the water.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it stays east of me and mine. Granted, I don't wish it on anyone, but at least other places have less dire consequences if it does hit.