We're outa here - for now

Little did I know when I came to Florida for the Challenge Project that it would be a segue into one of the big up-and-coming projects at Quest Learning Technologies Channel, a project focused on hurricanes called Eye of the Storm! It begins this Friday and airs weekly for four weeks, climaxing the final week with footage of our host Russell Tewksbury as he flies along with the Hurricane Hunters into the eye of hurricane Bonnie! See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/eos/index.html for more information.

There I gave my ad, now let me tell you what it felt like to be evacuated! The word came before breakfast. The hotel would be closing by mid-morning, and we were to leave the Keys. We made plans to use a buddy system on the turnpike and set off for Orlando. Driving down the access roads toward Route 1, it was hard not to notice how close to the roads the waterways that lined them were. It was no great surprise that flooding is one of the greatest damage causers. As I mentioned in my early journals, Florida has gotten a lot of rain this summer so the ground is already saturated with water.

It might have been a coincidence, but the only birds I saw as we drove down the road was flock of buzzards swooping down by the side of the road. Some of the trees showed evidence of wind, but otherwise the weather couldn't have been more ideal. As I drove, the radio kept interrupting with updates on Georges - still over Cuba but still determined to turn our way. I had not noticed them before, but as we entered the outskirts of Miami, there were large (pemanent looking) signs indicating the location of shelters. I don't remember noticing those when I took Bill to the airport. The highway department had suspended tolls on the turnpike all the way up to Orlando, so although we slowed down going through them, we rolled through the toll booths.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We were surprised that the traffic was not bad expecially since little by little the areas around Miami were being encouraged to evacuate as well. It gave me a weird feeling as we left all that gorgeous weather and drove into a storm in the Orlando area. Hmmm - I thought we were coming up here to avoid this!

As I type the news report from Naples shows a reporter on the beach walking among people in their lawn chairs. Georges is 255 miles southeast of Key West, and at this point they are saying that it may be a category 3 hurricane by the time it hits the Keys. I think I'm glad I'm here despite the thunder and lightning!