Waiting For Ophelia

We just received word that our courts will be closed tomorrow and Thursday in anticipation of the ill-effects of Hurricane Ophelia. Having owned property on the coast since 1985 and now having that property and a house just off the Intracoastal Waterway, I have been watching these weather systems for a good while. Our latest brush came just about two years ago-Isabel came ashore as a Category 3 and did some minor property damage. I sat on my front porch and watched the tall pines double over but not break. I let the house provide a windbreak until the winds shifted, driving me inside. We lost power for about 2 hours, had to replace a couple of porch screens and had to toss a couple of tree limbs off the street. We were lucky victims of fate. In every storm, the difference between taking a glancing blow and being thrown into the maelstrom may depend on whether the storm hits a mile to the east or west of your location. While we went on with our lives in short order, the small downeast communities just up the road were savaged. Softened up by the torrential rains, the small white homes and working fishhouses along U.S. Highway 70- trapped in the narrow marshland between the road and the water- were beaten down by a storm surge caused by 12 hours of northeast winds that piled up the shallow waters of the Pamlico River and Core Sound. Six months later, a trip down 70 East took you past piles of personal effects lying on the road for pickup. This storm looks like a reprise of Isabel-not the winds speed but the wind direction and the slow movement. We could have northeast winds over 70 m.p.h. for a prolonged period. Say a prayer for our little slice of heaven which occasionally attracts a smattering of absolute hell. I'll try and post some photos during my time off from work.