I have done what I can at my house; it’s a rental and the landlord won’t put up shutters and I don’t have the wherewithal to board it up myself. I am in southeast Miami-Dade County in an area called Palmetto Bay. I am 1/4 mile from the ocean, about 20 feet above sea level. The soil in the area is mostly coral underlay so there’s not a lot of flooding after heavy rains, but this is obviously going to be more than that.

I have moved all possible projectiles inside, moved all moveable furniture off the floor (I have tile throughout), checked that the garage roof is up to code so the cars will be protected as well as they can be, and backed up my laptop to an external drive, which I will take with me when I evacuate tomorrow to some friends’ place that is built like a bunker and out of the flood zone. (My house is right on the border — literally — between Zone A which is being evacuated, and Zone C, which is safer.) I have renters insurance with hurricane coverage ($1,000 deductible). I’ve packed clothes for four days, a briefcase with important papers (passport, birth certificate, insurance policies, etc.) and carefully wrapped up the little urn with Sam’s ashes to take with me.

The waiting is the hardest part. The cable TV is making it worse, so I have reruns of Star Trek Voyager on BBC America.

Update:  The county mayor has ordered the evacuation of my zone.  He didn’t give us a deadline, but I’ll go before the winds get here.