>>
>>Hang on in there (literally) Alex!
>>
>>>
>>>http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/084601.shtml?3day
>
>Thanks. Will be OK. We are all ready and waiting. Latest radar reports (continuous on local TV) and airplane rides into it every few hours indicate that it still has not reached hurricane speed (74 MPH for a Category 1) but it will be by the time it hits land tonight. It does not have an eye yet but will very possibly become more organized and have one. It packs lots of rain. It is over the Bahamas now. The center is expected to hit between Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. It will cover all of South Florida to include Miami too.

I guess that's one of the prices you pay for living in paradise!

We had one in S. England back in Oct 1987, the only one I've heard about in living memory. It knocked down some 18 million trees (I never knew we HAD that many!) and provided artist furniture makers and park sculptors with material for years. There was widespread damage and the scene the next day was like out of "Independence Day" - really weird to the English unaccustomed eye. The worst my house experienced was autumn leaves covering the basement steps, and a plant pot knocked over in the garden. But all night it was like a giant fist was punching my sash windows