Ed and Donna LaCoste, whose home flooded after Hurricane Katrina, traveled to Maui for their 40th anniversary.
When Donna and Ed LaCoste booked a trip to Hawaii to celebrate their 40 th wedding anniversary, the hurricane savvy New Orleanians bought the travel insurance.
After all, they were to leave in August – prime hurricane season – and they feared a storm in New Orleans might prevent them from getting out of the city and making their trip.
As it turns out, leaving was not the problem. Getting back may be an adventure.
The LaCostes, who lost their Lakeview home to flooding after Hurricane Katrina, find themselves in Maui as Category 4 Hurricane Lane bears down on the Hawaiian Islands in what is the biggest weather threat to the state in decades.
From their eighth-floor room in the Hyatt Regency, the couple were looking out at overcast skies Thursday afternoon, preparing to walk out to the beach before the wind picks up.
« We’ve had a lot of friends and family concerned about us. But we feel safe here and don’t feel like we’re in any danger, » Donna LaCoste said.
The storm was expected to skirt the island, she said, sparing Maui from the most severe weather. The LaCostes had seen photos from the Big Island that already showed landslides and flooding.
« There’s lot of flooding there. That concerns us, » Donna LaCoste said.
The LaCostes, whose actual anniversary was June 24, were in Oahu from Saturday to Tuesday before arriving in Maui. People didn’t seem very concerned about Lane when they were in Oahu, LaCoste said, but the mood was different when they arrived in Maui.
The storm veterans’ first order of business was a trip to Walgreens to stock up on water and food. « We did our due diligence, » Donna said.
She seemed to be taking it all in stride on Thursday. Not surprising for a storm-tested New Orleanian who, during hurricane seasons, sports a Mignon Faget necklace with the date of Hurricane Katrina on the back.
« It is what it is, » she said. « You grow up in New Orleans, you learn that hurricanes are hurricanes and there’s nothing you can do to stop them. »
And if they can’t get out on Saturday?
« We’ll just stay here in paradise, I guess, » LaCoste laughed. « My kids said, ‘That would be terrible if you had to stay in Hawaii an extra couple of days!’ «
