Hurricane Update



Dennis packed a punch as it came ashore Sunday, but -- so far -- it isn't the bad-ass that Ivan was. I had to venture closer to the coast Saturday, and it was truly strange. I practically had the south portion of the interstate to myself for much of the time, while northbound traffic was bumper to bumper at times. Although it did seem that most people who evacuated did so on Friday.

Today, driving back, I had a few less-than-comfortable moments. But I managed to outrun most of the northern part of the storm and only had to deal with constant rain and some wind gusts that shook me a little. The interstate was practically empty both ways this afternoon -- except for the 60-or-so utility company trucks I saw heading south to repair the damage and return power to those struck.

I hope all my friends along the Florida coast and some in southern Alabama and Georgia fare well. Now we have to wait and watch for tornadic activity and flooding -- the major sources of death from hurricanes, since predicting models prevent many fatalities from storm surges and winds when a hurricane blows in.