Talk here-abouts is you can breathe a little easier about Ivan.
Local forcasters seem certain he'll come into the Gulf. That puts us in the path, which, I must say, is better than his going to Florida. I would also hate to see New Orleans get hit. Over the last 20 years, N.O. has lost all---not almost all, but ALL---its beach and delta buffer between the city and the Gulf. If---when---a hurricane goes into N.O. it's going to be truly hellacious.
God bless us all.
I didn't know that New Orleans had lost all the buffer, yikes. New Orleans isn't very far from where my daughter and family moved to (about and hour and half drive north of N.O.), they just bought a house. I'd better call my daughter and tell her to prepare. I didn't think that Charley would do as much damage as it did because I thought where it hit, it would slow it down considerably more. Boy, was I wrong.
There's about 250 miles (my estimate) between Punta Gorda and Orlando. It hit PG at 145 mph, by the time it reached Orlando it was still going 100 mph. Frances was really strange, we got heavy wind and rain but it wasn't constant for but for a couple of hours. My SIL in Melbourne said it raged for 12 full hours, Melbourne is about 45-50 mins from us. She rode out the storm in the warehouse of the homeless shelter she runs. Everybody pitched in and they made it through ok.
Oh some good news,,, my granddaughter turned big number 5 yesterday! Woo hoo! For her birthday this year I sent a big box of dresses and the excited shrieking as she saw each one was really fun yet really deafening. :-) Dillard's Department Store had a killer sale and I couldn't resist. She also liked the cross pendant with sapphires and diamonds and the sapphire stud earrings (no, not real stones!)
Glad to be back and patooey on Ivan!