SUDDENLY SOUTHERN

3 AUGUST 2004

When the news came that Alex was going to turn into an honest-to-God hurricane, I decided to take the kids on a drive to the Outer Banks today. =) I had permission from John as long as I took the TRUCK.

We debated which direction to head - southeast to Atlantic Beach where the TV cameras seemed to all be set up, or northeast to the outermost part of the Outer Banks where the eye was going to pass closest.


SANITY won out, and we headed to Atlantic Beach . When we got there, the heavy rain was over, but the wind was still pretty strong. We went to the beach and walked out on the hard-packed beach. The high tide had gone out, and it was the easiest beach-walking you've ever done (if you don't count the painful burning sensation of that sand whipping against your bare legs.). The worst had passed already, and people were out checking the beach for... whatever you check a beach for after a hurricane passes. The lifeguards were busy whizzing back and forth on their 4-wheelers (Max thinks life guarding after hurricanes is the job for him!), and making sure everyone saw the red flags posted for 'dangerous beach conditions.' Really, who could miss them?

We hung out on the beach for a while, then headed back toward Greenville . We were kicking ourselves for not heading to the Cape Hatteras area where the action is, man!!! Atlantic Beach was disappointingly quiet.

However, when we got home and I checked the news, I learned that Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands were without power, and in fact the highway to get OFF of the Outer Banks from Hatteras was closed. Something about waves washing over it making it unsafe to drive on. I guess 100 mph winds will do that even IF those winds are 30 miles out.

So... I guess... BIG SIGH... we did the right thing choosing the safer route. Darn it.

All told, this was a teeny hurricane that didn't do much damage, thankfully. I guess it's better for us Yankees to get broken in SLOWLY, huh? Don't tell my mother it was a baby hurricane. She's busy worrying it was a whopper that nearly washed me out to sea.

Hey, it gives her something to do.

(REALLY I'm just kidding about that, Mom!! Hehehe)

SO- what I've learned about (baby) hurricanes:

  1. Three days is WAY too long to have to worry about when a hurricane/tropical storm is going to get here. By the time it got here, I had already used up all my stress tickets.
  2. What looks like a little wind on TV will hurt like the dickens when you're standing on a beach in shorts.
  3. Follow your first instinct if you must go see a hurricane.  Rumor has it that most deaths during a hurricane are Northerners who just HAVE to see it.
  4. Not EVERYONE runs out to buy plywood and bottled water at the first mention of the H word.  Although, Food Lion was pretty darn busy on Saturday, come to think of it.
  5. The public bathrooms at the beach are closed during a Hurricane Warning.

I bought a book yesterday:  Suddenly Southern:  A Yankees Guide to Surviving in Dixie . 

All about what to do if you have to transplant in the south.  What to (not) say, what to wear, etc.

I should have looked up the chapter on Hurricane Etiquette.

Man, am I going to need it.

 

 

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