Flashback Friday: The Evacuation Pt. 1

It was September 1999. The news was reporting that a major hurricane was set to hit the Savannah coastline. Living there for 13 years, I had heard that before and wasn't worried. Hurricanes have a tendency to turn just before making landfall in Savannah. Maybe it was my grandma's praying or perhaps it was just the way the coastline is made up, but we never really had any direct hits. Sure, we've had wind and rain, but nothing like the people in Florida and Carolina. So when I heard about this cat named Floyd, I wasn't shook.

As it got closer, it became evident that this was a big deal. There were talks about evacuation, at first voluntary, then mandatory. Word? We gotta bounce? Okay, let's take a road trip. My sister lived in Atlanta so I had a place to stay. I also was flush with cash, as a result of some stuff that I can't really talk about until I know the statue of limitations has passed. It figured to be a vacation of sorts, an excuse to go to Atlanta and ball out for a minute. There was only one problem... Everybody and their mama's mama was heading the same way and that created the worst traffic jam I have ever experienced.

Let me step back for a minute... If I recall correctly, I didn't have intentions on leaving but it was a last minute decision. Had I thought about it, I would have left the night before, thus avoiding all the traffic, but instead I was with the masses leaving that morning. I remember that I awoke that morning and neither I or my girl had packed a thing. While she took care of that, I went to gas up the Tercel and pick up Kareem who was gonna ride with us. That was my first sign of things to come. Several gas stations were out of gas, a result of everybody getting the hell out of Savannah. When I finally pulled up to the Enm.ark on Sk.idaway, the line at the gas pumps was damn near into the street. They actually had traffic cops managing the flow. It took me an hour just to fill up my vehicle and get a buttload of snacks, but by the time I got home with Kareem, my girl had all of our stuff packed and we were ready to go.

As we drove through the city, it seemed pretty deserted. Nobody was out in the streets and there were hardly any cars around. I hit the 37th street exit to I-16 and was greeted by more cars than I have ever seen in my life. No wonder the streets were empty, everybody was on the highway. I didn't know how long it would actually take, but I knew from that point that I was in for a long day. We cranked up the music and settled in. You know how they say traffic is at a standstill? That's how it was. To say that I was driving would really be inaccurate, I actually just had the car in neutral and would occasionally take my foot off the brake to move forward a few inches at a time. I didn't even bother to put the car in 1st gear.

It probably wasn't the best idea while sitting in non moving traffic, but Kareem and my girl broke out the weed. I had already quit, but they passed back and forth like it was no big deal. I'm sitting there getting a contact, bumping my head to Eigh.tball and M.JG's In Ou.r Li.feti.me which was our get crunk CD of the time. People in the next car were looking at us like we were nuts, which to be fair, we might have been. But we figured that all the cops were busy trying to get the traffic flowing, they weren't worrying about a lil herb. The CD ended and I noticed that we were in THE EXACT SAME PLACE! We hadn't moved a bit. I'm a pretty patient person, but this was getting to be too much for even me. But we had no choice. Its not like I coulda teleported to Atlanta.

3 more hours went by and by this time we managed a little movement. It averaged about 10 miles per hour. Crazy, but at least we had some forward momentum. The police had closed down the highway going east towards Savannah and opened it up for westbound traffic. What that meant was we were driving on the wrong side of the highway. I don't know why, but that was cool to me. My girl and Kareem of course celebrated with another blunt (like they really needed an excuse.) I was happy because we finally were moving a little. The trip that usually took 3 1/2 to 4 hours wound up taking 11 frustrating hours. By the time we got to Atlanta, I was ready to blow off some steam and spend some of those ill gotten funds I mentioned earlier. But first..must get sleep. We crashed out at my sister's house for the night. But the next couple of days would be eventful.

And let's stop there... The fun, the drama, and the aftermath tomorrow.... You hate me, don't you? LOL