Waiting for Ernesto

[Dee Bee]

Here in Palm Beach County, the breeze is just beginning to pick up. It's getting progressively cloudier and looks like the first feeder bands may be here soon.

Palm Beach public schools and my college (Palm Beach Community College) have been closed all day. Shelters will open at 2 p.m., I think. The city's EOC will be in operation at 8 p.m. and, as city manager, my husband will be there throughout the duration of the storm.

We finished closing the shutters (except for the front and patio doors, which will be closed when my husband leaves tonight), emptying the patio, tucking potted plants close to the front hedges, and dragging the hurricane supplies in from the garage this morning and early afternoon. I won't move the dairy/water/juice/ into an ice chest until much later tonight. I'm finishing up one more load of laundry and will take a shower fairly soon. I'm going to begin "supercooling" the house by lowering the thermostat to the low 60s.

We do have a small generator, but choose to use it to run the refrig, a fan, and b/w antenna TV for about 2 hours three times a day rather than constantly in case of an extended power outages (as in Francis, Jeanne, and Wilma).

My sister's mini-weinerdog is spooked already, cowering in the corner of the darkened kitchen. She's from MN -- no frame of reference!

I've been watching the local NBC weatherguy, Steve Weagle (sp?) who has been very accurate for the 6 years I've lived here. Ernesto shouldn't be too bad --they're talking 10-12" of rain and sustained winds 55-60/gusts only to 75-- but Wilma wasn't supposed to be either, and my roof still isn't finished. We've been told to expect power outages and flooding. The new advisory will be out at 5 p.m.

I'll be on line unless/until the power disappears. Be safe, all.