Fay who?

For those of you who might have heard about the little storm down this way, I thought I'd let you know what - if any - danger Tim and I are in.

It's weird to see schools being canceled for tomorrow - we're used to snow days, not hurricane days.

Evacuation zones are determined by all sorts of fun things down here, like elevation and proximity to water. Tim and I don't live super close to water, which is good. The evacuation zones in Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is located, range from Level A to Level E. Right now, Level A has been evacuated. Those are basically the people who live below water-level (slight exaggeration). I live in a Level C zone. I also live on the second floor. I also would likely be evacuated to the hotel near the paper if things got really bad, because since I don't have elderly family members to care for down here or kids to take care of, I'm prime bait for work, work, work during a disaster. My only concern about this is what to do with the cats, but I think I'd just smuggle them in to the hotel with me.

To keep up to date with my area, the weather blog for the Times, the paper I work at, is here:
http://blogs.tampabay.com/weather/

Tim's paper is covering the storm's effect on Manatee County, where Bradenton is, here:
http://www.bradenton.com/

Although a hurricane would totally complete the string of bad luck we've had lately (which, by the way, includes a new battery for Tim and the realization that the thieves took the shower radio and hand soap, too), it doesn't look like we'll be hit hard. The storm is supposed to hit east of the Tampa Bay area. And it should be weakened to a tropical storm, at that, by the time it hits, so we'll have heavy rain and wind, but it should be manageable. We've got plenty of water, candles, flashlights, non-perishable food and other necessities.

We'll keep you posted about our first hurricane experience!

-Kristin