Damn You, Florence! How The Nadels Are Getting Ready

^
Hurricanes and other natural disasters suck.

There. I said it. You can always count on me to tackle the tough debates of our time!

With Florence bearing down on the Carolina coastline even as I write this, Roberta and I have been touched by all of those who have reached out to us. Family, friends and even people on the interwebs that we never have met have inquired about how we're doing and have wished us well. A bazillion thanks!

When our son Ben called yesterday and asked if I was worried, I responded:

Of course I'm worried! Both of the Panthers' offensive tackles are hurt ... and I don't want Cam to have to run for his life!! Greg Olsen's hurt, too, dammit! And I might have to scramble to find a place to watch Sunday's game!

You know, if I have to miss seeing us beat the Falcons, this will be the worst Florence since Henderson!!

But seriously, folks ... here's what I can tell everybody as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13:

++ Charlotte is well inland. We will not get anything close to the worst of Florence. I am deeply concerned about our friends who live on the coast or close to it, and I hope they are doing everything possible to protect their most valuable asset: their lives.

++ The very latest update I read has Florence now a Category 2 hurricane that figures to hit sometime tomorrow somewhere between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. It then is expected to move slowly inland to the south and west. 

++ This is the image that was on the Charlotte Observer website, featuring what was expected of the storm track as of 11 a.m. Thursday:

++ It will weaken gradually, but "weaken" is a relative term. It will bring torrential rain and high winds throughout the Carolinas, with the Columbia area right in the path.

++ Forecasters believe Florence will pass well south and west of Charlotte, but it is a very wide storm and we still will get a lot of rain and wind. 

++ Most projections are for rain and wind to move in here sometime Saturday, with Sunday being the worst day. Experts are calling for 5-8 inches of rain in the area -- that's a ton to fall within only a 48-hour window -- as well as winds of 30-50 mph. 

I have two primary concerns for how Robbie and I could be directly affected:

1. We do not live in a flood plain, nor are we near any large bodies of water or creeks. Still, our backyard tends to get waterlogged very quickly even if there's only a relatively short but hard rain. Plus, our driveway at the front of our house has a gradual decline leading to our garage. So I am a little concerned that we could get some water in the house, possibly through the garage. We have lived here for 7 1/2 years and have never had a drop of water get into the house from a storm, but we also have never experienced a storm like this.
2. As with everybody else in the area, we could experience a major power outage that could last for days.

Both of those outcomes would be unpleasant and inconvenient, but they shouldn't be life-threatening. And they hopefully will be relatively easily remedied after the storm passes.

We don't expect to have to drive through flooded streets or, really, to do much at all outside our house. We're prepared to "batten down the hatches" and "hunker down" and all those other cliches.

We are well-stocked with necessary provisions: candles, flashlights, batteries, ice, drinking water, etc. We have more peanut butter than some grocery stores (I really like peanut butter), and plenty of other non-perishable foods to keep ourselves nourished. 

We have beer in the fridge, too. If we lose electricity, we might have to make the ultimate sacrifice and drink a lot of it before it gets warm. 

If we lose power, we will be able to cook and heat stuff on our gas grill once the wind dies down, and we have a spare propane tank. 

Both cars have full tanks of gas, we have taken down all hanging plants, bird feeders, potted plants, etc, and we either already have or soon will move inside anything else that could blow around our yard. It doesn't look like either we or our next-door neighbors have trees that could fall on our house.

I'm not sure what else we can do at this point except think positively and stay prepared.

I will try to keep people posted, but if we lose power I'm not sure how easy that will be. If anybody tries to call and I don't answer, it might just be because my phone is out of juice, so don't call in the National Guard on our behalf.

Worst-case scenario ... we end up in Oz.

I hear Munchkins actually are quite tasty as long as one has plenty of peanut butter available for spreading on them and beer available to wash them down ... so no worries!
^