Here we go again. The gulf coast is bracing for yet another major hurricane, almost four weeks after Katrina ravaged Mississippi and Louisiana.

But this time the Miss-Lou is on the east side of Hurricane Rita &045; generally not the best place to be.

As of Thursday evening, forecasters were predicting less gusty winds than we saw during Katrina, but the possibility for more rain and tornadic activity is greater.

We certainly hope the weather won’t be that bad, but as we’ve learned time and again, you just never know.

We’ve already seen one casualty of the storm: organizers of the Jim Bowie Festival made the decision to cancel the event, scheduled for today and Saturday. While we’ll miss the annual festival, we’re glad they erred on the side of caution and look forward to an Oct. 8 concert as well as next year’s event.

Local agencies expect we could see more evacuees from Louisiana and other areas again this weekend as residents look to escape Rita. Red Cross is still operating shelters that can handle the influx, and we know we have volunteers who will take good care of everyone.

In the meantime, we urge everyone in the Miss-Lou to take precautions today and through the weekend. While it’s certainly not a time for panic, we do need to hunker down if the weather gets bad and let emergency workers take care of any problems that occur.