Huh.

[impy]

So work called. Twice. Um, the store's closing tonight and not opening back again til this weekend, maybe, depending on what the storm actually does. I... uh... look. I can count on one hand the number of times the store has closed for anything more than power outages or floor cleaning and still have most of my fingers left. She didn't say if it was paid or not, though I do have the time off so I'd imagine that if, for some reason, it's not paid, I'd still be able to get paid. That was complicated, but I guess I mean I have the PTO hours so one way or another I suppose I'd be okay.

Add to this my brother panicking and shrieking about us needing to evacuate and the dog being a right royal bitch (I'm sorry, but I had to) and one of the cat carriers missing a piece and did I mention the car is pretty tiny and I can't see four people and four pets managing to fit without us murdering one another?

Please, please, please let this stupid storm veer East. Please. I can handle rain, I hope. It's the wind and the trees I'm concerned about. It's been awhile since I've actually been concerned about a storm hitting and I don't like it. I think the last time I was seriously worried, and not just bitching about it, was when my dad was still around.



Dammit, I can't even properly enjoy a free night off from work. What the hell.

Comments

[luxken27]

It's not supposed to come inland for awhile yet, no? I thought you had a day or two before all hell broke loose.

I hope it misses you guys, too. You've had enough crazy ass weather this summer, you don't need a Mk 4 on top of that :-/

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

That's what is so weird about all of this. The storm isn't supposed to be nearby until Friday and not 'hitting' until Friday night, Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time the city freaked out so early and so fast. Neighbors are evacuating tonight and we don't live on the beaches or even downtown, where I could understand leaving early just in case. I guess everyone remembers... Floyd when the Interstate turned into a parking lot? It's very weird.

[luxken27]

Maybe it's pre-panic because of the news out of Haiti?

Looking at the local weather nerds blog, yeah: it appears people think this is going to be Floyd, the sequel:

HURRICANE MATTHEW:
At the 11:00AM update from the National Hurricane Center, Matthew is still a category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 145 MPH. It is continuing to move to the north at 10 MPH and the eye has moved off of the northern shore of Haiti. Matthew is still on track to move up through the Bahamas during tomorrow and Thursday. There has been a slight jog to the west with the latest model runs and a U.S. landfall is possible near the North Carolina/South Carolina state line on Saturday morning as a possible category 2 hurricane, then re-emerges back over the ocean for a little while before another possible landfall somewhere near Boston on Sunday. Remember, expect surprises from tropical systems, so things could change. Stay in close touch with the latest updates and forecasts if you are close to the path of Matthew.

MATTHEW STILL VERY DANGEROUS: Despite passing over the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti this morning, sustained winds remain 145 mph, and the eye is very close to the eastern tip of Cuba. Not much change in the forecast track from NHC this afternoon…

MATTHEW ANALOG: Concerning Hurricane Matthew and the impact on Florida… a good analog is Hurricane Floyd from 1999. The center of Floyd remained offshore (we expect the same type track from Matthew).

Although over a million Florida residents were evacuated before Floyd passed by, the state was only lightly affected. Strong waves and tropical storm-force winds did result in significant beach erosion on the east coast of Florida, as well as the loss of some boat piers. It also destroyed the Jacksonville Beach Pier.

But, Florida remained on the “good” west side of the circulation. Floyd had little impact on inland cities like Orlando. Matthew could produce a very similar impact, but we note the latest European global model run (the ECMWF) trended westward this morning, and if that verifies it could bring a much bigger impact to the Florida Atlantic coast.

Floyd did the most damage in eastern North Carolina when it went inland around Cape Fear, and the same situation seems to be setting up for Hurricane Matthew.

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

The Haiti angle makes sense, as does the not wanting to be caught in the parking lot scenario of Floyd again. Given the car we have now, I'd almost rather take my chances with the trees than with the parking lot.

And now the storm is going to be here a day later at the earliest. Good times! But it's also, knock on wood, not supposed to be as strong. So we'll see how it continues to change, assuming anyone bothers to update anything beyond "we're all gonna die, get yer guns and yer sandbags!"