The Hurricane Arrives

Slept well after a night of gentle rain. It's amazing how crafty hurricanes can be-luring you to think they are safe with nice gentle rain and then slamming you with tornadoes and wind gusts and (on the coast) storm surge. Right now Irma is coming ashore at the keys with sustained 110 mph winds.

We are expected Irma to arrive here in Central Florida around 2 pm-will probably lose power then and be out of touch with you all for a while (God willing we will be back in touch later.). Hurricane force winds all night long-74 mph steady with gusts into the 90s. Then the hurricane will go marching into Georgia like General Sherman. Good luck, Georgians!

I'm worried about people on our coasts-west coast towns like Naples, Fort Myers, and Tampa haven't seen a storm like this in a century. Lots of nice homes were built in areas that can get storm surge, the most deadly effect of any hurricane, barring tornadoes of course.

The east coast may get storm surge, and will get 74 mph winds as the hurricane passes. People don't realize how wide a storm this is until you see the actual radar images. The "cone" graphics the weather people like to use are dangerously inaccurate and indicate nothing for the east side of our state, but that is wrong. Be careful, folks!

The worst part of the storm so far has been just the waiting for it. We have seen it cross the Caribbean, destroying island communities, and slowly creeping our way. Now it is here and we just have to get through it. I was encouraged so see many bucket trucks on the road yesterday-a whole contingent from Northline Power in New York state passed me, headed to Tampa. It's good to know that we are not alone.