Tropical Depression

I just finished my first exam of graduate school. I could have done well, or really badly, I will just have to wait and see. As I walked out of the building however I saw workmen putting up a small metal gate in front of the entrance to the Tropical Medicine building . The structure they put up looks kind of like a foot tall retaining wall driven in place with railroad ties. I stare at it for a second and then ask one of the workers,
"Is this for the tropical storm?"
The workman looks at me and replies "yeah, where are you from?"
Sigh, I guess I am still getting used to the idea that down here a heavy rain can cause localized flooding, in just a couple of hours, even minutes. However, I did feel better once I realized that the other people who were exiting the building with me had not even figured out what the wall was for. Currently, (as of 2pm) New Orleans is under a tropical storm warning, with the possibility of small tornadoes.