Hermine Excitement

Yesterday, Hermione (that's what I call Hurricane Hermine) started to make her presence known around 3:00 pm. I was still at work, but I have a view of the outside from my office.

As hurricanes go, Hermine is a baby--a Category One. And she was headed way north of us, and would make landfall on the other side of the state. But the media just goes nuts with the threat of every hurricane or tropical storm, so it's all over the news. We locals are so used to the overblown hype that we don't think much of these things. Most of the time, the storm curves away, or curves northward just enough to reduce the effects to maybe a sprinkle or two.

I wasn't expecting much, and was surprised the high school had postponed their open house last night.

However, Hermione, the first hurricane to make landfall in our state since 2005, provided more excitement than I thought she would.

Around 3:45, everyone's phones started going off with weather alerts, my phone included. I glanced down and saw something I haven't seen since I lived in Oklahoma--a tornado warning. Patty, our receptionist, is a little skittish and was ready to book it into one of our three "safe rooms," but we assured her we would know when the tornado was close.

I wanted to see it coming though, so I went outside to see if I could see anything. It was amazing. I have never seen ripe tornado conditions, so the clearly visible rotation in the clouds was pretty cool, and a little unnerving. But just a little. I knew our office was really safe, with three really good internal rooms where we would be safe. Most tornadoes spawned by these hurricane feeder bands are pretty weak, so I wasn't too worried. I was more worried about being struck by lightning, which is a real killer in these storms.

So, I didn't stay outside too long, because once the alert came up on my phone, I brought up the local news website on my computer to watch the Doppler radar, and lightning was close, and plentiful.

From my desk, as the storm converged right overhead, I had an excellent view of tornadoes trying to form. It was really exciting, because I've never seen anything like it. I videoed some of it, and you can hear the excitement in my voice. I'm not sure if you can hear it, but I paged Patty in the front office, who had me on speakerphone. I had picked up the phone, so you can't hear her replies, but I could hear the front office chuckling in the background at my excitement.

And the storage in my phone was almost full, so the video cut off just before the funniest thing--when Patty reminded me that we have to act normal, because we don't want to alarm the patients.

Patty: It's crazy, I know. (Mumbling in the background with some laughs) But we have to act like nothing's happening, because we don't want to scare the patients.

Me: Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry! (more good-natured laughter in the background) Okay, there's nothing happening, no scary stuff happening right outside our window. Swirling death is not outside. Carry on. (more laughter)

It appears that I am the only one in my office who hasn't seen a tornado close up. I've seen a couple of waterspouts in the distance, but have never seen a tornado actually coming down from the sky. I thought it was fascinating, and I think I would like to be a storm chaser.

It's weird, because my most terrifying nightmares are about tornadoes. In real life, they elicited more wonder than fear.

Anyway, it was exciting for me. I drove home in a downpour, and noticed a lot of debris on the road. Hermione proved to pack a little of a punch with her feeder bands. And Volusia County schools are closed today as a result. The storm is starting to move off the coast, but we still have a lot of those feeder bands on the tail end coming through.

The news says State Road 44 is flooded and closed, and that's my way to work. It didn't say where on 44 was closed, though, so my area may be open. I really need to get some hours in today.

A Space X rocket exploded yesterday (or maybe it was the day before?) at nearby Cape Canaveral. Space X has sure had its ups and downs, but they keep plugging away...they'll eventually be successful, I think...

I'm really looking forward to the long weekend! Even if it does rain the whole time... :)