Hurricane Ophelia Update

Today was a first in that I was actually woken up by the wind blowing outside my window. Taking the dog out to poop was a real adventure too. There were big tree limbs down in the yard and these huge trees were swaying and bending waaaaaay too much for my taste….oh, and those are just from the gusts. We’re not getting the full 80 MPH winds yet. Interestingly enough, the dog seemed relatively nonplussed about pooping in a wind storm. I guess beggars can’t be choosers.

Anyway, the power has already gone out once (and come immediately back up) and there are already thousands of people in the county I live in without power. So, at this point, I’d be stunned if I make it another 2-3 hours before the wind knocks the power out.

So, I’m getting ready to unplug the computer, taking a quick shower (while I can), and then I’m just going to wait it out, which should take a few hours. How much RWN will be effected tonight and tomorrow is hard to say at this point, since I have no idea if and when the computer will be working tonight.

I’ll update when I can. But, for the moment, I’m signing off to take advantage of the joys of electric power while I can.

*** Update #1 ***: 10:47 AM Power’s still on, so I figured I’d do an update.

After my last update, Patton was looking a little nervous and I thought the storm was starting to get to him. But then, I realized the real problem: he didn’t pee when he went outside the first time. So, I ask him if he wants to go outside and jump’s around and does the whole “Whee, I get to go take a whiz in the hurricane!”

Yeah, “whee”.

So, I try to cheat. You know, I stand on the front porch and hope he’ll just go in the bushes. But, no such luck, he demands that I take him in out into the storm. Eventually, when we’re both soaking wet, he finds a nice dry spot to wee wee. Go figure.

Anyway, this storm is a little weird. We’re getting flooding in my county (although I’m not in danger), I’m looking at areas all around here on TV that are getting torn up by the wind, but it doesn’t seem to that we’re getting the sort of sustained winds they’re saying we’re being hammered with on TV. On the other hand, maybe that’s just because I’m inside.

I will tell you that I wish had a digital camcorder right now. How cool would it be for me to drive around and give you a live feed of flooded areas or storm damage? But, given that I don’t have a generator, who’d figure I’d have power to get the footage out?

This storm is supposed to be around for another few hours but if nothing falls on the roof and the power stays on, color me thrilled.

*** Update #2 ***: 3:38 PM After taking a nice, refreshing nap, I woke up and was amazed that I still had power. At that point, I had to decide what to do: work on the page? Read? Clean the house?

No! I am a blogger, I’m a journalist! I have a responsibility to report the news! Of course, maybe I should have thought about that before I took a 2 hour nap, but that’s water under the bridge at this point.

It was time for me to take action, so I asked myself the question every blogger should ask themselves when they’re in the middle of a disaster: what would Geraldo do?

Immediately I grabbed my digital camera, got Patton the storm chasing dog, and hit the road looking for downed trees, flooded areas, and old ladies who needed to be rescued.

But after hitting the road, I found that the damage wasn’t that bad. There was no flooding in any of the low lying areas in my immediate vicinity. There were lots of limbs down, but that just doesn’t have the same visual impact as a whole tree laying in the road. I did see a porta-potty blown over in a ditch, but how bad is that unless you’re in it when it goes over?

So fortunately, it looks like my area — at least so far — is going to come out of the storm pretty well. In fact, there were even a few businesses that have already opened back up.

Walgreens? That made sense. But, there was a movie rental place open. Who rents movies in the middle of a hurricane? You know what would have been funny? If I had stopped in, gotten a membership, and then rented a copy of “Twister” and left.

You get it? That’s a movie about a natural disaster, we’re in a natural disaster, so….ah, forget it.

Let’s just put it this way: so far, so good…

*** Update #3 ***: The rain and wind outside look minimal and it looks as if I have dodged the bullet. Therefore, I now pronounce hurricane Ophelia to be somebody else’s problem. Now, where’s my $2000 FEMA debit card?

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