Watching Wilma from a distance

UPDATE 12:05PM... I just talked to my parents who are shaken but not stirred. They have no power and have not been able to get outside to survey the damage yet, but they are fine. The storm was really bad and understandably very scary to ride through. They have talked to the other relatives there and while everyone has suffered significant damage to their houses, no one was injured. Now they are waiting for the last of the storm to push through so they can make basic repairs while the sun is still up. If Hurricane Andrew was any indication, they, and everyone else, are gathering their assortment of weapons and preparing to fend off looters. In 1992 that was a severe problem. This is one of the occasions where it is good that everyone is armed to their teeth. FYI - You loot, they shoot.

Lets hope the power returns soon and everyone is able to get as close to normal as quickly as possible.


I'm not sure of the word to describe this. On the one hand, my family is riding out the very worse of Hurricane Wilma at this very moment. Meanwhile, I am doing something that I have dreamed about since I first thought about moving to New York. While they are huddled in the dark hoping their roof doesn't blow off I am in a Starbucks in Greenwich Village on my wireless laptop updating my blog. To me it seemed so cool in Florida to imagine being here doing this and sure enough it has happened. To say the least, the excitement is tempered by concern for my family.

I talked to my parents about 6:30 this morning as it was approaching. Their power was out and the wind was blowing hard. The worse was yet to come. I have not talked to my sister since last night but see she posted a blog entry about 3:30 saying it was getting bad. (Her link featured below). I will let you all know how they are doing and when I hear they are ok I will certainly enjoy this New York moment much, much more.