Debby came through here a few weeks back, as a weak tropical storm. Winds up to half a Cat 1 storm she did indeed move a lot of beach sand, and flooded some streets, and even caused some 1988 canvas awnings in our subdivision to tear, but we survived. Only the dog had to hold his knees tightly together as he's not that fond of going out in a storm.
Personal experiences with hurricanes for me date back to 2004. That was the year of Charley, Francis, Jean and Ivan. The track of Charley looked ominously familiar to that of T.S. Isaac, and Charley did reach winds in the Cat 2 to Weak Cat 3 as I recall. He was a manly hurricane, and we evacuated the island and went to Spring Hill to visit my uncle with Millie (prior beagle) and the cat. In a Corvette, no less, so it was packed full. We took all the meat from the refrigerator (and left it for my uncle and aunt), and stayed with them for two days. Had we waited for half a day, we'd have never left as Charley went into Port Charlotte, 75 miles south, and up the Peace River to inland Florida. We'd have seen some wind, and a lot of rain, but that would have been it. Frances came later in the season, and left us without power for perhaps 16 hours - used those candles we'd stockpiled, and had to relearn the art of conversation. My wife then left for the Missouri condo, and I weathered Jean (no power loss) and Ivan alone - nothing else significant in 2004. When Ivan passed, the surfers went crazy because he was far out in the gulf, but made some nice waves to ride. Ivan went to college, and Florida State closed down. Caitlin drove north for a week but came back when classes resumed.
I have decided that "hunker down" is more than a phrase from Jim Cantoni of The Weather Channel, its an attitude of seasoned Floridians. So far, no fear of Isaac........but you're welcome to stay tuned.
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