Washington D.C. is in hysterics right now. Hurricane Isabel is causing people to make runs on the grocery stores for bottled water, toilet paper and batteries. The D.C. Metro has already announced that they will likely suspend rail and bus service sometime in the near future. Personally, I don't see the reason for the panic.

I grew up in Virginia Beach, just miles from the Atlantic Ocean. We had our share of hurricanes come through, and most of them were just a lot of wind and rain. Isabel is going to hit North Carolina, so she has hundreds of miles of land to cross before she reaches Washington. The most we'll get here is some wind and rain. There may, I say again, there *may* be some downed branches and power lines, but for the most part I think we'll be fine.

My parents still live in Virginia Beach. I sent mom an email asking about the mandatory evacuation. Virginia Governor Mark Warner ordered a mandatory evacuation of the entire area. Mom said that they are thumbing their nose at Governor Warner, and are going to ride out the storm. They cannot make people evacuate, but they will refuse to rescue them if they need it. She isn't scared.

I remember years ago when my grandparents came to visit. We had a hurricane hit that week in the late evening, so we all went to bed like it was no big deal. No big deal, except to grandma and grandpa. They stayed up most of the night looking out the window. I'm still not sure what they were looking for.

I used to think the hysterics were somewhat fun to watch. Grocers enjoy the business, and no one is really hurt by being overprepared. However, I *had* planned on going to the VT-TAMU game tomorrow. I say *had* because now I may not get to go. My friend Marnette has already backed out. She is scared. She told me that she doesn't want to deal with the "weather uncertainty". Our other two tickets belong to another pair of friends that may also back out. I do not really want to go alone, and as of right now, it looks like I might be the only one in the stands.

Virginia Tech was supposed to announce whether or not the game was going forward, but they have not said anything since Monday. I doubt they'll postpone it, however, because of the revenues that come with a Thursday night national TV contract. Also, Blacksburg is a good 300 miles from the coast, nestled in the mountains. It isn't exactly hurricane country. (Just ask UMiami.)

I do hope that they postpone the game until Saturday, however. Not because I am scared, but because I would like to share the moment with my friends. I'm hoping that if the game is postponed, perhaps they will start being rational people once again. It's not like we've never sat out in the rain before at a game.

Besides, if this woman is riding out the storm in her trailer on Knotts Island, I think we can sit through a damned football game.

PANIC UPDATE: The D.C. Metro just announced they are suspending service at 11 AM tomorrow. The federal government also announced they will be closed.