With Rita fast approaching, the NSU campus was closed today so I could get some work done around the house to prepare for Rita. I’ve boarded up the windows in danger that will handle being boarded up. The cars and motorcycle are now in the garage and are all gassed up. We loaded up about 10 gallons of drinking water in case the local water tower runs dry due to the electricity being off for too long. We also filled up the other bathtub for toilet-flushing water and have been eating food that likely will go bad once we lose electricity (we always do with even medium storms here). Bags are packed in case we have to go and the baby carseat is installed and ready to go.

Tonight the storms should start hitting. Supposedly we will get 40 mile an hour winds tomorrow, with higher gusts at time of course. The rain will likely be heavyish, but that’s not our real concern since we live at the top of a hill - no flooding here! The wind doesn’t sound too bad on the face of it, but with the fact that hurricanes bring tornadoes on the E and NE sides, that’s a bit worrisome. We will be on that side of things, so we’re watching the weather very closely, outside as well as via computer and TV.

Still, the outlook looks pretty good. We’re prepared for even long bouts of no electricity. We have a plan for a tornado, though I wish we were better set for one of those. Failing a tornado, we should be all set and fine.

Will post an update later, either when conditions change markedly or tomorrow if we still have electricity. If electricity goes out, I might be able to post something anyway (all computers are on backup power for up to 30 mins).