Had Hurricane Fran hit us here near Raleigh back in 1996. We are a couple hours away from the ocean. Here are my suggestions. Make sure you have batteries for a portable radio. it would be good if you had a generator as you might be without power for an extended period of time. Fill up all the gas tanks for your cars, golf carts etc as the gas stations will not be working with no power. Get cash out of the bank because the ATM's don't work without power. Put anything that is outside and loose into your garage. Bring some ice chests into your house filled with ice. Fill your bathtubs with water. After the storm (which could last hours) be careful outside as there may be power lines down and check on your neighbors Generally, just think of all that would not work in your house and surrounding area if you have no power or water for days and try to be prepared. You also might want to just make some reservations at a hotel not in the path and just go there until the storm passes by and until the electricity is restored.

Posted the above a week ago or so when it looked like Irene was going to go up Central Florida and would be a nice calm tropical storm by the time it got here in NC. Wouldn't you know that it went off the coast of Florida and is now going to hit NC ! Guess I have some preparations to do. Fortunately for me, it looks like it will hit the coast and then travel northward instead of heading west towards me but we are still going to get a lot of rain and pretty strong winds. As long as the power doesn't get knocked out we will be fine. Keep the folks that are going to be directly hit by this large hurricane in your thoughts and prayers the next few days and during the time it takes to recover.

Here in the Baltimore MD area we are expecting 80+ mph winds and lots of rain. This is very very unusual for this area. We have had 2 phone calls from our utility company urging people to be prepared with water, flashlights, battery powered radio, and extra batteries. Wow an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week too much!

Maybe locusts next week !