Made It

Hurricane Irma was no picnic, but we made it through without harm, and only moderate damage to the house and our property. Some roads are still closed and/or flooded, and of course millions are still without power, but we and our neighbors are helping each other however we can. As you might expect gas, bottled water and fresh food are very scarce, but trucks are arriving every day, so I hope soon things will get back to a relatively normal state.

What I'm doing: right now, checking on elderly neighbors, clearing the debris from the yard, and providing meals, bathrooms and laundry for friends and neighbors who are still without power. Simple things like a hot shower and clean clothes really help, so if you're in a situation to do the same, please do.

To be sure your donations get to the people affected by Hurricane Irma, I suggest a donation to the Red Cross. You can find out more by visiting redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS. You can also text the word IRMA to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Off to Prep

I'm taking off today to get some household things done in the event we get a visit from Hurricane Irma. For those who are likewise watching her, the National Hurricane Center is your best bet for the most up-to-date and accurate information on the storm.

After Matthew Part II

Things are finally getting back to normal here after Hurricane Matthew. The power is back on (hopefully for good this week), our cable is working again, the roads have been cleared and we've finished cleaning up our yard mess. All my guy has left to do is chop up the one tree we lost:



My guy and I decided to take a drive down to Daytona to get away for a day and find out how they fared, and as you can see from the pictures I snapped the beach took a hard hit:



The Hilton's first floor was completely flooded, and they've had to gut every room on that level as they dry out. Everywhere we saw things that were sand-blasted, warped or buried by the storm surge. Even the boardwalk stairs down to the sand were smashed to smithereens. It looked to me like half the beach itself was gone. Part of A1A was still closed as they worked on repairing the road. But their cleanup efforts were stupendous, and the local businesses and hotels were open, so recovery is well underway.

After Matthew

Thanks to everyone who prayed and e-mailed and left messages for us during Hurricane Matthew. We made it through the storm in better shape than we expected; some of the siding on our house peeled off, and we had some roof and tree damage, but we lost only one old oak at the back of our property.

The wind was definitely the biggest issue for us; it took my guy a day to clean up all the debris that blew into our yard from other places. We have lovely neighbors who helped out without us even asking. Other than some big rain puddles we had no flooding to speak of here. The power failures, phone and cable disruptions during and after the storm could have been a lot worse, too. No one in our extended family suffered any unfixable damages, either.

Bottom line: we were very, very fortunate. Much of our part of the country was not as lucky, and we are keeping everyone in the southeast in our prayers.

Storm Hiatus

Paperback Writer will be on hiatus for the duration of Hurricane Matthew and the aftermath. I'm hoping that won't be too long, and I'll check in with you all whenever I can. In the meantime, please send good thoughts our way.

Storm Prep

The National Hurricane Center has posted an advisory here on Hurricane Matthew, which is currently a category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 mph. The Caribbean is likely to take a hard hit, but beyond that they're not sure where Matthew will go. North is pretty much a given. You can take a look at the latest projection cone here, and I strongly recommend everyone in the southeast keep an eye on this one.

If you're ever in or around the path of a hurricane, you should know your route out if you will be facing an evacuation. Florida residents, you can find yours here by county. If you're going to stay home and hunker down during the storm, it's absolutely vital to have a disaster kit ready, including enough drinking water and non-perishable foods in the event you're cut off in the aftermath. I can speak from personal experience on this; after four hurricanes in a row hit us back in 2004, we felt very lucky that we had prepared so well in advance. We lived without power and running water for 21 days until they finally cleared the roads enough for us to drive out and restock.

I live in a rural area, so if we take a hit here from Hurricane Matthew it will probably be a while before our power and cable service are restored. I'll report in when I can. In the meantime, everyone in the danger zone please prepare for this, and be safe.

Watch & Prepare

Twenty years ago Hurricane Andrew forced me to relocate -- twice -- with a newborn baby. Now we have this one to worry about:



The National Hurricane Center has all the latest on Tropical Storm Isaac, and vital information here on how to prepare for the storm if you live in the strike zone.

Odds/Ends

Those of you who live in the affected areas should keep an eye on the latest updates from the National Hurricane Center on Tropical Storm Bonnie. It would hit during the only week each year that my guy and the kids decide to go fishing in the Keys, but fortunately we have a lot of family down there, and they're also in a good spot to wait out the storm today.

A few people have e-mailed to ask what I will be doing during RWA Nat'l Conference next week. Obviously, I'm not going to it. I also decided last year to stop hosting LB&LI, but I know a lot of other blogs and sites will be having virtual workshops and stuff for those who are left behind. If anyone wants to share some links to free online events, please feel free to post them in comments.

Lately a lot of visitors have been stopping in to ask about future Darkyn books. At present there are none under contract; I finished the original seven-novel series with Stay the Night. My publisher presently has me writing Kyndred novels, and I have no desire to try to juggle two series in the same genre (assuming I could even sell them.) That said, I will continue to write Darkyn stories in my spare time for my readers; the next Darkyn free e-book will be Chrysalis, which I think I'll be able to finish once I get my kid off to college and life settles down a bit.

Tis the Season Ten

Ten Things to Help You Prepare for Hurricane Season

Check and stock your first aid kit. Emergency service personnel are not permitted to respond to calls during a hurricane, so you should have some first aid supplies at home, as well as a good supply of any necessary medications. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about how much medication you need to keep on hand in the event of a storm. If you're not sure what to keep in your household first aid kit, emedicine.com has some suggestions here.

Get a Weather Radio. A battery-operated 24/7 weather radio can keep you and your family informed after the power goes out and your phone lines are cut off. These radios are available at most electronics and discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target, etc.; also online from companies like The Weather Radio Store.

Identify the "safe room" in your home. Broward County has a page here about how to determine which room is the one to use as a safe retreat during a hurricane.

Keep a hurricane tracking chart. Most major supermarket chains make them available for free; there's also one in .pdf format here that you can download from the NHC.

Know how to safely use a generator. The city of Fort Lauderdale has a page here with guidelines on how to safely operate a generator.

Know the Scale of the Storm. Hurricane intensity is currently measured from 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale; if you don't know what that means the NHC has an in depth explanation of the scale and each category here.

Make a family disaster plan. The National Hurricane Center has a page here with plenty of helpful advice.

Protect your home. FEMA has some brief guidelines here on how to prepare your property and home for a hurricane; USA Today also has some good info here.

Stock adequate emergency supplies for your home and family. The National Hurricane Survival Initiative has an excellent page here with checklists to download.

Understand what to do after the hurricane. Once you've been through a storm, you have more challenges to face with property clean-up, avoiding post-storm hazards, how to cope while waiting for restoration of power, water and contact, etc. Gomestic.com has an article here that covers most of the basics.

Dean

Hurricane Dean is gathering strength, and in preparation we have to shift some family members and friends around and otherwise batten down the hatches, so there will be no Friday 20 this week.



I think we'll be okay here, as long as Dean doesn't loop around or take a big jog to the north. It's always so hard to tell what will happen with these storms in August. One minute we're fine, the next a couple million people are trying to get out of its path.

Some hurricane information links:

The American Red Cross has a page here on preparing for a hurricane.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- Their Hurricane Headquarters section has the latest local info, as well as tracking and satellite maps.

The National Hurricane Center -- where to find the most up-to-date advisories on the storm.