The Worst Averted?

Talked to several people today (at the gas station, in a restaurant, on the beach watching the wild waves and surfers) and consensus is that there's not much to worry about with Ida here.  Rain and wind gusts, yes, but probably no car damage and probably no power outages. 

The bulk of Ida is hitting Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL.  And although Pensacola isn't so far from here, I guess because Ida isn't real big, we'll miss most of it.

So we'll see through the night, when she makes landfall in the wee hours.

I did get to the beach after sundown (about 5:15PM) and snapped these.  As the Gulf is usually smooth (and the "natives" call it "the lake") waves about eight feet are substantial.  But I didn't have much luck capturing them at their height (click to enlarge):

Having slept only five hours last night, arising to catch Ida's progress and decide whether to stay or leave, I'm fading.  Time for a movie in bed.....that is until I fall asleep in ten minutes.

Sixteen Hours Away...

and the waves are kickin' up. 

Oh yeah.  I want Stephanie Abrams job. 

So these really are photos of Miramar Beach ("my" beach) today late morning.  I'll try to get back out there before it gets dark to shoot more.  (Ya gotta click these to enlarge to get the effect....)

And I did go buy some candles and matches.  Just in case.

Hurricane Horoscope

Talk about a relevant horoscope for this morning:

Monday, Nov 9th, 2009 -- It's difficult now to know whether you should laugh, cry or do both as you are confronted with extreme situations where you must choose a course of action. The pressure is real, but your emotional reactions are also part of the problem as your fears are brought on by uncomfortable memories. Luckily you can minimize your biases by sticking to the facts. You'll come out on top today if you can keep your focus on the current events, and not on the past.

If that doesn't describe my dilemma perfectly, I don't know what.  It's 8:15AM and I'm trying to decide if I should leave.  Everyone's sick at my son's house, so I don't think heading up there is a good idea.  Still boils down to two things and those are will my car sustain damage (downed tree limbs, flying debris, or scenario like photo above) and will I be without power for an extended time period?  The Weather Channel has just issued a flood warning for Murder Creek in Mobile....Murder Creek, gees, who named that?

Ida has just been downgraded to a tropical storm, no longer a hurricane, but meteorologists are still predicting flooding and power outages.  Is my horoscope suggesting I focus on current events (fact that this is just a tropical storm) and not the past (prior hurricanes) and therefore, just stay and not worry?

I guess I could risk it and run to the local Walmart for candles, matches, a battery-operated radio just for some connection to the real world, and pack a cooler with some sandwiches.  I've read that the food in your fridge can be okay in a power failure for up to 24 hours if you don't open it.

There have been a mere three hurricanes in recorded history that have landed in the U.S. in November, only one of which (Kate -- 1985) hit the Panhandle.  The bull's eye for this storm is Pensacola Beach, upon which I walked at 4:30PM just yesterday --- past this dome house which has been built to survive hurricanes and survived Hurrican Ivan in 2004.

More info on dome house here

If only there were someone else here with whom to light the candles and play cards, watch the winds,  and bemoan the conditions if the power fails!  I'm afraid it's going to be solitary confinement for two days.