The Tension Before the Storm

Art is calm.  I'm not.  I've never been near a hurricane before.  Art feels we've prepared as much as we can and we'll have to just deal with the situation as it arises.  Still, as I hear the announcements that schools on Oahu will be closed tomorrow as well as all city and county buildings and all the major shopping centers... I'm nervous.  The buses won't be running except some in Waikiki.  I suspect it's to insure workers can come to help stranded tourists.

I'm writing this on Thursday evening at 7:00.  The Big Island is already starting to feel the effects of Iselle.  The hurricane is supposed to lose some of its energy after hitting the Big Island.  They say the high peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa may dissipate some of Iselle's strength.  I hope so.

We stopped by the store yesterday to see if we could pick up some canned Spam or Vienna sausages. 

Art was not thrilled  because we normally don't eat these canned meats.  I told him we could donate them to the food bank after the storm passes.

The argument discussion was moot since the store shelves were empty.

I picked up some canned vegetables instead.

We went to tai-chi this morning and you would never have guessed that two hurricanes were on their way to deliver a 1-2 punch to the islands.

I wasn't going to post today so that I could work on my posts for next week about our Hokkaido trip.

However, it is a rather historic time for Hawaii so I felt I needed to document this.

The Big Island has never been hit by a hurricane before and I don't think the islands have been hit by two possible hurricanes so close together either.

We've heard over and over that we need to keep a gallon of water per person per day for seven days.  I don't think we've got exactly that, but I've got water saved in the bathrooms and in the refrigerator.  We also have water in the rain barrel outside and I've been filling containers for the toilet as well.

Art put up these tarps across our patio to minimize rain.

I was worried about the papaya tree crashing onto the neighbor's house because papaya trees have shallow roots.

Art decided to strap it to our house instead of chopping it down as I suggested.

I've heard how horrible it was when Hurricane Iniki crashed into Kauai in 1992.

I took this photo from my window at about 5:30 this afternoon.  Although the skies are gray and cloudy right now, it does feel like the calm before the storm.

We're supposed to feel the peak of the storm around 11:00 AM tomorrow.  My brother and sister-in-law were supposed to return from Vegas at noon.  I have a feeling their flight will be delayed.

I'm looking out my window again and see the ominous clouds crawling across the skies. 

But on a positive note, we've eaten up the ice cream in the freezer in case we lose power so I guess we're about as ready as we'll ever be now.