Half The Deck

Bracing For Jeanne

It's Friday night nearing 10pm. Hurricane Jeanne is predicted to make landfall in Fort Pierce at approximately 2am Sunday morning. Looks like it's going to be another bumpy ride.

I got home from work around 6:30pm today and dug right into the hurricane preparations. Most the windows have already been boarded up - we've got two front windows and the front door that we'll do tomorrow. We still wanted a little fresh air and sunlight today. Tonight is mainly picking and choosing some things to protect from possible water damage should we lose the roof or portions of it. So far I've gathered some clothing (including shoes), some family momentos and medical supplies. These items have been placed into plastic bins or garbage bags. I've done a lot of looking around at which trees may pose a threat to the house. I figure the highest amount of concern I have is with the southeast corner of the house. This is where the "fun room" is located. Carried the speakers out tonight. Dang they are heavy! I smacked my hip into the corner of the ping pong table on the way out - so I tried to quickly step away from it - which resulted in me banging my toe on a concrete block (had to bring the patio lights inside which are bolted to the blocks). I now have a very pretty bruised toe. I considered callin for a helicopter to evacuate me, but decided to stay tough and work through the pain ;)

Around midnight tonight, Nancy will come home and we'll begin attempting to brace the garage with some 2x4's on the inside. Tomorrow we'll line the cars up in front in hopes of avoiding having the garage door cave in from the pressure of the wind. For those who don't know, this is one of the most susceptible portions of the house. When the garage door goes, the roof will soon follow - that is actually one of the main reasons people lose their roofs.

I'm oddly calm through this whole process. I was pretty freaked out during preparations for Hurricane Frances only 3 weeks ago. I did some serious praying last night and asked the Lord to keep me calm. He's done a great job!

So, we'll finish up with the last minute preparations tomorrow before the winds start kicking in. We're reaching the point where all we can do is sit and wait. To those reading, please feel free to say some prayers that all in the path of the storm stay safe and out of harm's way.

Probably won't have time to blog tomorrow, although I'll try - permitting the power holds up.

Stay safe all.

posted by Putnam Pig @ 9:51 PM