Monday, October 24, 2005

Eyeing a Hurricane, Closely

24/7 hurricane coverage when safely ensconced the country’s midsection, thousands of miles from Florida is just more news sensationalism, but here in a Ft. Lauderdale hotel room with the pre-winds howling Wilma’s still-hours away arrival, the news has an urgent relevance.

A hospitalized brother flew me dead in the path of Wilma’s gaping jaw. Luckily, it looks as if this won’t be near the disaster of Katrina-Rita, yet the warnings have been non-stop, the lines in the stores long, as I joined the natives in queuing up for radios, flashlights, batteries, water and food.

“Dang, I shoulda took the collision insurance on my rental” I start thinking as the wind now grows louder with each commercial break. The Fairfield Inn has aluminum-shuttered all the windows, bringing it home that, yeah, we’re going to have 100+ mph winds. My brother is probably in the safest place he could be, Holy Cross hospital.

They say most folks stayed home at Key West, and that most in the Broward-Dade area are kind of living in denial. I hope we’re just living period tomorrow night!

Rfd 10/24/05 midnight

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