Hurricane WatchIV-Sunday AM

We’ve watched as Jeanne has tracked much more west than north, and so we are now going to a full-on hit from the hurricane. Their was just a report that we have sustained winds here in Tampa of 51 mph. Jeanne is now down to 85 mph in the eye-wall, which is probably about three hours from being right here in Tampa. It is raining, but not yet pouring. That is anticipated however. The storm is moving fast, so hopefully it will get through here quickly.

I am glad we’re getting most of the hit during daylight hours. Frankly, as I look up at the big oak trees right beside my house, its kind of scary. Somehow, its less so during daylight hours.

We still have power, but the local electrical utility is already reporting about 100k in Tampa. I don’t believe there is much chance we won’t lose power sooner or later, but its held so far. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I woke often, sometimes to the sound of the wind.

Obviously, the east coast has taken a big hit. They are presently showing storm surge right up into downtown Vero Beach a mile in. Their problem over there is that it hit almost exactly at the same place as Frances, so a lot of buildings already had significant damage.

My camera has the ability to record a few seconds of video, so if you click on the small picture, it should play for you as a Real Media file. This is not one of the hardest gusts I’ve already seen.

We are reasonably well prepared. I think if I’d known we were going to get a direct hit, I would have boarded the front windows, but its too late for that. As I’ve said before though, I think the house can handle the storm winds, so long as the oak trees don’t come down.

I don’t know how much longer we’ll have power, and I wanted to get something posted for everyone to let you know we are doing okay so far. Again, I anticipate a power loss sometime this morning. So long as we get that restored in a reasonable amount of time, I’ll be fine. However, the power companies are obviously stretched pretty thin when it comes to outside help.

Its deja vu all over again.