Russell Rhodes Blog

A lot of watching.

Some might say that we have been lucky. I’m referring to this hurricane that’s headed our way. For years, we have avoided a big one. Now, I’m not so sure we can escape this one.

A lot of watching over the next few days. Where will Ian go? If it stays off our coast and goes into the Florida panhandle, that would be better for Tampa Bay. By that, I mean we avoid a direct hit. Still, it looks like wind and water even with that.

There is also the possibility of a direct hit. For that, I cannot imagine.

I spent the weekend doing a lot of watching. A lot. Probably too much. I blame it on what I do for a living. It’s mostly because I’m a worrier.

There was that moment on Saturday night when it looked like it would stay off our coast. I woke up Sunday morning to the reality that we were going to get something from this thing.

I’ll be at the TV station for the duration. Fox 13 is my hurricane shelter. Working a lot. Sleeping in an office. It could be worse. We have a generator. I’ll have air conditioning.

The dogs are headed to Lakeland. Enrique will drop them off and head over to the east coast. We are as ready for this as we can be.

Our meteorologist just said expect the worst of this Wednesday and Thursday. Possibly into Friday. It’s a slow moving storm. Not good. It’s gonna be a long week.

Storm surge, wind and rain. That’s what I’m told we need to worry about.

I’m as ready I can be. Plenty of water. Peanut butter. Cheez-Its. Oreos. (In all honesty, I’ve already started on the Cheese-Its and Oreos. I may need to go to the grocery store for more. Ugh.)

It’s just Monday. A few days to watch this thing get closer. I’m going to be doing a lot of watching. It’s just what I do.