<p>Well here we go again! Everyone is on pins and needles down here. Looks like Pensacola is under the gun again - and many folks don’t have their lives back from last time. It will be devastating in Cuba, I wonder how populated that part of the island is? It appears that the eye will miss Havana, and the storm is relatively tight, so that area may not be totally destroyed.</p>
<p>Don’t ya’ll want to move down here?! We still have the best beaches, except for the part that’s washed out to sea.</p>
<p>cangel - got the email from Tulane yesterday that they were closing at noon today and that everyone should execute his “personal evacuation plan.” Are you in evacuation territory? S doesn’t have a “personal evacuation plan.” Thinking I’ll leave that up to him once he gets there and sees what friends he might make with homes in a suitable evacuation location.</p>
<p>Hang on, Cangel, and we’ll be thinking of you folks this weekend. Be safe. </p>
<p>Looks like Dennis will pass directly over Havana tonight (maybe as I’m typing), a Category 4 storm, 145 mph winds. That a big blow! Should get to Key West by tomorrow morning. </p>
<p>Feels pretty helpless out here in Cali. A sluggbugg wouldn’t stand a chance! Take care.</p>
<p>Good luck! Keep your head down. Will you have to evacuate? </p>
<p>I have a close relative in Mobile and I’ll pray for both of you. But, on the bright side, a certain daughter of yours won’t have to worry about hurricanes her sophmore summer…perhaps frost-bite her freshman winter though.</p>
<p>We are outside mandatory evacuation area, and it is best to stay off the road if you aren’t asked to leave.
As of now Deniis the Menace is losing a lot of his punch, it will regain some strength over the Gulf, but it is very early for such a strong storm. Poor Pensacola will probably bear the brunt of this, although anything could happen. We were supposed to go to the beach tomorrow for 2 weeks - that’s not happening for awhile!</p>
<p>thanks for the thoughts, we’ll stay safe, time for MREs and bottled water - anybody else ever had an MRE? They’re kind of an experience.</p>
<p>I just got back to California late last night. I was in Miami for business meetings, but we all bailed out a day early and got out of town to avoid the hurricane. Even though Miami was not in the direct path this time, there was a lot of talk that the winds might still be high enough by our scheduled departure times on Saturday to cancel the flights. As we flew out on Friday evening, the wind and rain were just beginning to power up.</p>
<p>Good luck to those out there still in the path. I’m glad to be back to the land of wild fires and earthquakes.</p>
<p>Yeah, Coureur, you touched on an eternal topic of conversation here - is it better to sit for a week, watching the thing creeping up on you, or get shaken out of your bed at 3am by “The Big One” - I’ll take the hurricane, thanks - they come in “seasons”.</p>
<p>You know what one of the worst parts is? The 24 hour a day breathless local news with minute by minute coverage. One of the best scenes from Ivan was early in the evening, as things were just beginning to pick up - our favorite local station had run out of storm to talk about, so they switched to the poor sports guy. Since he didn’t have a job during the storm, they had put him outside on the the covered back loading dock of the station with a big gas grill, grilling hot dogs for all the people spending the night at the station. He was talking, and joking on camera with the anchor types inside, when a big wind and rain gust blew in under the covered porch, in the background, you heard a muffled “Whooaa” and “Damn”, then a slamming door, sports guy says - “Aaahhh, guys, guys, what about us?” They ran inside, and door, which had been propped open, shut and locked sports guy and the cameraman out in the storm - it was classic, the poor guy, now dripping wet said “Hey, ya’ll remember I’ve got the hot dogs!”</p>
<p>Locals here in SoCal are often amused by others’ fear of earthquakes. It’s mostly just a perpetual series of small ones plus a medium one every 10 or 20 years. A true Big One hasn’t happened in SoCal in living memory and not in NorCal since 1906. Florida, on the other hand, gets a devastating hurricane every few years and four(!) last year.</p>
<p>Actually, people talk a lot about earthquakes, but the true disaster danger is wind-driven wild fires. And those too come in a “season”, and you can see them coming. In October of 2003 wildfires killed 16 people and destroyed over 2000 homes in San Diego. All the earthquakes in all of San Diego’s history combined have not destroyed anywhere near 2000 homes.</p>
<p>Coureur you bailed out just in time. I am in Miami visiting D while she does summer sessions, plus I keep office space downtown - watched the first bands roll in off Biscayne Bay; it looked awesome from my 15th floor window - I was mesmerized - then I woke up and ran for it. We lost power Friday afternoon, just got it back this afternoon. Two days isn’t too terrible but of course very uncomfortable. Spectacular rain and wind though…and, I have no idea how my house fared on the other coast. I cannot even imagine what those poor people in the panhandle region must be enduring…</p>
<p>Did all of Miami lose power? Did the airport close? People were calling me a sissy for bailing out, so I’m wondering if my worries/predictions for Miami came true.</p>
<p>Thankfully, there was minimal to moderate damage, and no loss of life. The evacuations were very complete. We are high and dry, and were on the dry side, we did not lose power, although the cable and Internet were out for awhile. Good friends in Pensacola are without power, but do have a roof this time! Thanks everyone for you thoughts and prayers.</p>
<p>HEY! gnusasaurus posted a link to the central florida hurricane center… just wanted to point out that I’m the designer for that site… the only staff member not from florida, actually…</p>
<p>i had it looking so nice then one of the guys started adding/changing things… and this week my goal is to make it look all pretty again :)</p>