The pre-math, continued
Our location: 27.88 N, 82.28 W
Frances' location (as of 8 a.m. EDT Saturday): 26.7 N, 78.4 W
The storm isn't moving much, which I'm sure is causing great frustration and consternation among refugees who are taking shelter in hotels, schools and various other places. The entire state (except for a few Panhandle counties and the Jacksonville area) is basically at a standstill, looking east and waiting for the ... well, for whatever it is that's going to hit us.
The problem with the entire state being at a standstill is that it greatly restricts our ability to do anything. Traffic is awful, even over here on the Western Edge where nothing is happening, because of the stream of evacuees headed this way. The grocery stores are already out of everything again, and the gas stations have been tapped out. We almost feel somewhat ostracized because we're not participating in the widespread panic.
But it's hard for us to generate panic when we're not quite sure about what we should be panicking.
The Sarasota Herald Tribune's web site put it best: "Whatever you've heard about Hurricane Frances' upcoming assault on southwest Florida, don't bet on it." This exercise is further proof that despite all the technological advances and the ability to bring up-to-the-second updates every other second, you're still dealing with a natural phenomenon, and natural phenomenons tend to defy man's best efforts to take control of them.
Meanwhile, here on the west side, it's beautiful. The kids are in the pool again. We're calmly doing things that need to be done while we still have electricity, just in case. It would suck to have this pile of laundry here tomorrow if the power was out.
Frances' location (as of 8 a.m. EDT Saturday): 26.7 N, 78.4 W
The storm isn't moving much, which I'm sure is causing great frustration and consternation among refugees who are taking shelter in hotels, schools and various other places. The entire state (except for a few Panhandle counties and the Jacksonville area) is basically at a standstill, looking east and waiting for the ... well, for whatever it is that's going to hit us.
The problem with the entire state being at a standstill is that it greatly restricts our ability to do anything. Traffic is awful, even over here on the Western Edge where nothing is happening, because of the stream of evacuees headed this way. The grocery stores are already out of everything again, and the gas stations have been tapped out. We almost feel somewhat ostracized because we're not participating in the widespread panic.
But it's hard for us to generate panic when we're not quite sure about what we should be panicking.
The Sarasota Herald Tribune's web site put it best: "Whatever you've heard about Hurricane Frances' upcoming assault on southwest Florida, don't bet on it." This exercise is further proof that despite all the technological advances and the ability to bring up-to-the-second updates every other second, you're still dealing with a natural phenomenon, and natural phenomenons tend to defy man's best efforts to take control of them.
Meanwhile, here on the west side, it's beautiful. The kids are in the pool again. We're calmly doing things that need to be done while we still have electricity, just in case. It would suck to have this pile of laundry here tomorrow if the power was out.
posted by rj at 10:35 AM
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