I May Be Off-line For a While (Again)

I live in Florida. One of the risks of living here is the occasional hurricanes. We are looking at one right now.

As I write this, Hurricane Nicole is in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida. Unfortunately, it is headed this way and is expected to hit landfall this evening. 

Predicting the path of hurricanes is notoriously difficult to do, as hurricanes tend to “wobble” a bit, especially after moving over land. However, the weather forecasters are predicting that Hurricane Nicole will probably move directly over the town where I live or else over a nearby town during the night tonight.

This is “déjà vu.” Hurricane Ian came through here a couple of months ago and caused widespread damage. (Luckily, my home escaped damage entirely.) The new hurricane, named Nicole, is following a very different path but it, too, is aimed directly where I live.

Hurricane Nicole is a rather low-level hurricane, only a shadow of the predecessor storm called Ian. Nicole barely has reached hurricane force winds (74 miles per hour or 119 km/h) and the weather forecasters expect it will be downgraded to a tropical storm (no longer a hurricane) shortly after it reaches landfall this evening. I doubt if this will cause any damage to my property.

However, power outages will probably be common during Hurricane Nicole. During the last hurricane (Hurricane Ian) I did not have commercial power for 12 hours. I suspect I will have the same problem this time, possibly for an even longer period of time.

I do have two Jackery power generators (the modern-day replacements for gasoline-powered generators) and also a gas stove so I should be able to run lights, appliances, and be able to cook food. In short, I think I should be well-prepared except for one item beyond my control: internet connectivity.

I may be offline for 12 hours or even for much longer (a few years ago, after a previous hurricane,  I was without power or internet connectivity for 8 days). 

So if you don’t read anything new from me for a while, please do not be surprised. I am probably OK, probably well fed, and probably reading a book or something. But I may not be online.