Cross posted, and more frequently updated at
BlogWood: Norwood's Fair and Balanced Nattering.
Tampa, FL - 5:30PM - Well, seeing as all my day job work just dried up, at least until the storm passes, I guess I can get back to BlogWood.
What's it like waiting for a hurricane in the midst of a large population center with close to a million people under evacuation orders? Well, I just got back from running a few errands...
A trip that's usually like one and a half hours round trip, max, during rush hour, took almost 4 hours in the middle of the day.
Traffic is the worst I've ever seen, at least heading inland and North.
Lines out into the road at just about every gas station.
People driving one of three ways: courteously, hey we're all in this together; bat out of hell mad-driver get outa the way; and panic-slow, I'm old and confused and I usually only take the car out on Sundays...
Actually, I guess that just about covers most days, but right now, there are so many cars on the roads that actions are magnified and repeated, so I swear I got caught behind dozens and dozens of slow movers, took advantage of several courteous drivers, and chuckled on numerous occasions as I overtook and inched past the ones who were outright rude and or dangerous.
Everybody's on their cel phones, listening to the weather, and dealing with bumper to bumper traffic and other drivers who are evacuating and unfamiliar with the roads they're driving. It's really pretty amazing that traffic is moving at all.
The TV news types are creaming all over themselves. I think one local weatherman almost swooned when the 5:00 update came in and the possibility of a huge storm surge increased. News crews are out in traffic and on the beaches, just itching for some photogenic windblown action or automotive mayhem.
Grocery stores, big boxes, and hardware stores are all packed well beyond any fire codes. Water and batteries and plywood and duct tape are all popular items. Panic buying always sets in whenever a hurricane even thinks about threatening our area, but with this threat looking more and more real, well, let's just say that entering a store and jostling for canned goods or water may be more than some people will be able to handle.
TECO, our local power source, is already making noises about shutting down all power to a large part of Tampa. I'm not sure yet if I'm in the zone. This could happen as early as 10 AM Friday.
I do know that I'm not in an evacuation zone. I live at the top of a hill overlooking downtown, which is basically only a few feet above sea level. As long as my house of sticks doesn't get blown down, I should be fine.
Frequent updates as TECO and the cable company allow.