Hurricane Irene - 8-26-11 - Mid-Day Thoughts

It was starange driving across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel ("HRBT")on the way to the office and looking towards the Norfolk Naval Base and not seeing any ships at all where there are usually at least one nuclear carrier if not more at bert, plus a number of other vessels in view from the HRBT. Traffic headed west - and out of southside Hampton Roads - was backed up about 6+ miles this morning and I suspect it will only get worse. I will head back to Hampton via the Midtown Tunnel and Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel ("MandM"). Things at the office are almost wrapped up - computer equipment bagged in large lawn and leaf bags and sheet plastic utilized to cover the large copier and telephone system switching equipment. It seems many places are closing early in order to prepare for Hirricane Irene.

More evacuations are being ordered including in the cities of Hampton and Newport News. Here are highligts from the latest updates from WAVY-TV:

11:40 a.m. - Virginia Beach is issuing a voluntary evacuation of camp grounds and mobile homes starting at noon due to high winds.

11 a.m. - Gov. Bob McDonnell orders state offices to close at 3 p.m. Friday.

10:45 a.m. - Newport News has issued a mandatory evacuation for areas that would flood in a Cat. 1 hurricane effective 5 p.m. today. Those areas include City Line Apartments and the Salters Creek area.

9:20 a.m. - The Coast Guard has closed the Port of Hampton Roads to inbound commercial traffic because of expected gale force winds from Hurricane Irene. The Coast Guard said that vessels need special permission to enter the port.

9 a.m. - Hampton issues a mandatory evacuation for low-lying areas that would flood in a Category 1 hurricane. Those areas include neighborhoods in and around: Grandview/Beach Road, Harris Creek, Buckroe Beach, Southwest Branch of the Back River, Hampton River, Tidemill Creek, Indian Creek, Newmarket Creek, and as well as any other area prone to flooding. If you live in these areas and do not evacuate, the City will not be able to send rescue teams in during the storm.

Hampton readers can check out their flood zone here. Yes, the Hampton evacuation includes are home. The boyfriend and I will be staying nonetheless since while the house may end up flooding on the first floor despite our best efforts, it's built like a bunker and not going anywhere even in hurricane force winds.

I will post later as time permits. Now, I'm headed to Hampton to help move ome things into the salon's attic, then drop my car off at a downtown garage (on the second or third floor), and finally home where the work really begins.