Lots of people had the same idea as we did. There were more cyclists, walkers, and runners out than usual. Still it was hard imagining that a big storm was coming our way. It was windy but still quite nice. The skies were only partly cloudy.
One thing we did notice. Recent rains had turned areas where on our last ride cattle were grazing into areas with several feet of standing water. Drainage ditches beside the roads looked like creeks. Man-made retaining ponds were beginning to fill. In other words, things are going to flood in these low-lying areas when Isaac comes through.
Isaac will be passing a little to the west of us. Right now we expect it to be primarily a big rain event rather than a big wind/big rain event. We are making some nominal storm preparations outside. We will probably have sustained winds around 35 mph with gusts in the mid 40s. Which means things that are easily blown around need to be put away or tied down. We will close the hurricane shutters on our back screen porch as well. It saves damage to the screen porch and cuts down on the amount of rain blown in. In 2004 Hurricane Charley was on a similar track and was supposed to steer clear of us. Then the path changed just a teeny-tiny bit at the last minute. Charley paid us an unexpected and quite unpleasant visit. That taught us that the best plan is to expect things to be fine but to be prepared for much worse.
