This hurricane season was very quiet and I didn’t even pay attention when Florence appeared in the Atlantic. It wasn’t until the storm spun up to a Category 3 storm on Sunday, September 9, and then the tracks all pointed to Wilmington, NC, did I take notice.
Monday morning a coworker and I went to a pre-storm meeting with the College administration at work and the decision was made based on the storm’s likelihood of becoming a Category 4 hurricane, to close on Tuesday. That started a very long week of waiting.
Tuesday morning (Sept. 11th) was spent shutting down the datacenters at work and making sure things were ready for the expected power-outage. I also spent a lot of the morning searching for wood to cover our bay window. But by the afternoon the window was covered, bread and water were in the pantry and all we could do was wait.
Wednesday the storm had slowed down and people were worried it would get even stronger. There was nothing to do but wait. On our evening walk we noticed the Pender Memorial Hospital Emergency Department had closed.
