Chapter 3: How close is it again?
August 28th, 2005: 5:37pm
Justin Timberlake sat quietly in his hotel suite in Houston where he was visiting his girlfriend Cameron Diaz on the set of her new movie. She’d been gone for about seven hours and he didn’t want to go too many places without her. He’d had a couple radio interviews set up about his current movie role and about getting back in the studio to prepare for his new album due out next fall. He had learned that Destiny’s Child was here in their hometown preparing for their tour this fall and thought about calling Beyonce’ or Kelly to see if they were hitting the town so he’d have some company. Cameron would be out at least another five hours and he didn’t want to sit in the hotel the whole time. That was, until he saw the weather report.
“Hurricane Katrina is the topic on everyone’s mind this weekend. Looking sure to hit somewhere in the gulf, even Houston, we will watch this potentially catastrophic storm as it rear’s closer to the shores. There has been a mandatory evacuation ordered for southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans. Meteorologists are saying that this storm could swallow the crescent city whole. Justin sat in his seat fixated on the television. As the weather report faded and local commercials flooded the screen, instinctively he picked up his cell phone and speed dialed his girlfriend to see if she knew about this situation. After the third ring, she answered.
“Hey baby, what’s up?”
“Hey, did you hear about the weather that could be heading this way?”
“No, we haven’t heard about anything on the set, why?”
“Because there’s a hurricane in the gulf and it’s supposed to be a big one. I was just wondering if your director or any of the producers knew anything about it and if they planned on doing anything about it.”
“No, I don’t think they do. Let me talk to them and call you right back.” Cameron said hanging up the phone before he had a chance to say bye. He’d been through hurricanes before living in Orlando but Cameron grew up in California all her life and barely experienced an earthquake so the thought of any type of inclement weather frightened her. He felt bad for all those people who had to evacuate their homes on a moment’s notice probably with no idea of where to go or who to turn to. Worse off, what about those people who didn’t have a way to get out? He learned by rehearsing in New Orleans that the poor population was far from few and just the thought of something like this happening made him sick to his stomach. He had made friends with a few stage hands that helped them put their tour together back in 2002 that he still kept in touch with. Right when he was about to call his friend Damon, his phone started ringing. Recognizing the number, he picked up quickly.
“JC, man what’s going on?”
“Nothing much, I was just flicking through the channels and landed on CNN where they were talking about some scary shit happening out there in the gulf. What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure C. The last thing I heard, it’s supposed to land somewhere on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. That’s right there on the river bank. I feel bad for all those people in New Orleans.”
“I know, I just got off the phone with David and he said his family’s gonna stick through it. I tried to convince him to leave but he said his family simply can’t afford to go anywhere and besides, even if he could, where would he go? I offered to pay for him to fly his family up here but he wouldn’t hear of it. You know that this is like a cat 5? That’s the strongest any storm can get. I’m scared for them man.”
“I know I was just about to call Damon to see what his plans were. I think we’re pretty safe here though. It doesn’t look like its coming anywhere near here. Well, not close enough to leave. I doubt the movie will stop production in the middle of its crunch time. Has anyone talked to Lance at all? You know his family lives right there in Biloxi, it could strike there too.” Justin asked suddenly concerned with his friend’s family and their well being.
“Joey said his family evacuated three days ago. They’re all at his house in Nashville. He said thirty-seven relatives under one roof isn’t his idea of a quaint family reunion but wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Understandable. I doubt we go anywhere though. They’re flashing a message that they’re canceling all flights out of all Houston airports so we’re stuck here anyway. I just hope the only thing we feel from this is rain. Well C, I’m going to try and call Cameron back to see what’s going on with her. I’ll call you back later. After calling Cameron back, he decided to take a quick nap before making any more phone calls. He said a silent prayer before dosing off; knowing all those people in New Orleans needed all the prayers they could get.
