OMG gas leak! Right here in River City!
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My brother and I had just managed to finally move his old Ford Ranger "project" out of our barn to be picked up for salvage when sirens converged from all directions. He noticed that all the city workers had gotten the hell away from the hole they dug this morning, and shortly after that a fireman waved us down the block.

I objected because I had to get my dad, who has dementia, out of the house. I was directed to go around the back side, which is sort of dumb because I had to go to the room that was closest anyway and this just took longer. Then my dad was in a fog and wouldn't get out of the sofa (he sleeps 20 hours a day). Then he wouldn't leave without putting on his belt and shoes and coat even though I was yelling at him that it was an emergency. (He just scoffs when you tell him things like that, but of course, every tiny thing that's important to him is supposed to be an emergency for us ....) Anyway, we finally got shooed across the street, then eventually a city bus came for us to sit in. There was even a mother with an infant, both in jammies. Very Katrina.

While on the bus I called the high school where my DD niece goes so that they would redirect her bus to the transfer station where they parked us. (Then, of course, a cop got on the bus and volunteered to make just such arrangements for us!) We were told it could be an hour and a half, but it ended up being just about 25 minutes before the all clear came. Then I had to wait in the cold for my niece while my brother escorted our dad home.

There are still power company trucks, fire trucks, and squad cars everywhere. I think this means there won't be any drug dealing across the street, but I can't be sure -- they're pretty brazen....