As Hurricane Ike approaches landfall, I’m spending a little time following what people are saying in Twitter. In particular, using Twitter Local I can get all the tweets from people within twenty miles of Houson and withing twenty miles of Galveston. The Galveston tweets are sparse and don’t say much right now, but the Houston tweets have a lot to say.

The Houston Chronicle has a special section on the hurricane, which is sending out updates to their twitter page. ‘Curfew ordered in La Porte’, ‘Humble Emergency Operations Center open and ready’, ‘POWER OUTAGE UPDATE: At least 164,000 without electricity’

Looking more closely, there are interesting comments: “CenterPoint Energy has said that it expects some places to be without power for at least two weeks.“ So, how do you cope with this? There are lots of good suggestions. One that caught my attention was “Cook meat on a gas stove or barbecue grill and start eating it right away. Share with friends and neighbors.”

While the recommendation may have more to do about not wasting leftovers since you can’t refrigerate them without power, there is a more important message underneath that. We are at our best when we all look out for our friends and neighbors. The list goes on to say, “Embrace good old-fashioned entertainment like games, story-telling and conversation.” This too, echoes the importance of being in community, of looking out for one another.

Another note, illustrates what people are in for: “All first responding agencies (fire law enforcement and medical) will cease operation at the onset of 50mph winds. “

Meanwhile, others are finding other ways of dealing with the coming storm. “Getting drunker and drunker as I await Ikey”, “ike-hurricane is giving me a giant headache” “West houston is like a ghost town - looking for the hurricane parties in my hood” “Walking dogs in 40 mph winds - ike is going 2b nasty” “DAMN! The wind is really now blowing hard here in west Houston! Power outage around the corner!” “Done laundry, got food, full gas tank, cash in pocket, generator works, gas stove, time to relax and watch TV till Ike takes the power out!” “things they’re doing at my family's: semi-filling gallons w water 2 freeze, will put ice gallon in fridge when power goes out 2 keep cool”