Tropical Storm Fay

Emma puddle-jumping on Weds between rain

Emma and I have been housebound for 3 days. Duval County schools, city buildings, libraries, etc. have been closed due to Hurricane Fay. Although Fay was downgraded to Tropical Storm status, the TV meteorologists keep reminding viewers that the wind speeds between a tropical storm and a hurricane only differ by 5 mph.

Poor DH had to work yesterday and today. Yesterday they let employees leave early (unpaid, of course), so he was home by about 3:30. Today DH just texted me that he is there “for the duration.” (Until 7 p.m.) He is pretty upset by this. So am I. The mayor and city council don’t choose to shut down the city for no reason…I can’t believe DH had to go in today. Mayor Payton in his speech to the city requested that people “STAY HOME” and “NOT DRIVE.” Just before DH left, we heard on the news that 3 of the local bridges are closed due to high winds (40 mph or higher). I am certain there will be people who don’t go into work today b/c of the weather, or the no-city-buses-running, or the tree limbs blocking intersections that we’ve seen all over the news, or the 50,000 people in our county without electricity. The worst part is that DH and co-workers were told yesterday that the company will consider it “an occurrence” if people call off today. Enter my most sarcastic voice: Thank you, AT&T for taking care of your people. I appreciate you looking out for my hubby and other employees. UGH!

We have been fortunate thus far----many leaves and small branches in the yard, but no major tree limbs. We’ve also had our electricity flicker on and off several times, but have not had any long term power outages. (I just got off the phone w/ my father-in-law who said their power was off for about 5 hours total last night. They live about 4 miles away, so I consider us lucky to not have lost power!)

In looking out our bedroom window, I can see about 2 inches of water accumulated under our deck. (Our deck is about 6 feet off the ground.) And the rain keeps on falling…

Em and I are getting cabin fever. There are only so many art projects, board games, and rounds of hide & seek that we can play. On Weds we were able to go for a walk and play in the rain puddles between bouts of rain. Yesterday and today, no such luck. Yesterday when it wasn’t rainy, it was really windy. Today it literally hasn’t stopped raining. And this is not a sprinkle, mind you. This is POURING and blowing rain. We have a window next to our front door under our porch roof. This is the first time I have ever seen the window get wet, since it is under a ceiling/roof overhang. The window is soaked today, because the winds are blowing the rain so much.

Oh, and did I mention that the dog peed on the living room carpet? Sighs. He is terrified to go outside in the hard rain. Eeww!

TV news indicates that the weather will be like this for at least 24 hours until the center of the storm completely passes out of northeast Florida. Good times, great fun.


"Go away, Fay! Nah-nee nah-nee nah!"