We here were just a tad on the northern outer bands of earlier forecasts. Virginia Beach. Given the counter clockwise rotation of a hurricane, typically the upper quadrants can be trouble, say from 10 to 2 o'clock on the dial, blowing inland from open water. Storm surge, lots of water, and wind. I made up my mind to stay put. Thing is, you never know what those damn things are going to do at the last minute. A 50-100 mile deviation from the projected path can mean a world of difference. A last minute change of heart to gtfo can be too late, unless you want to risk weathering the storm caught in traffic.
This one was projected to do some questionable moves as it got closer to making landfall. A pretty consistent projection is/was that once it got closer and/or made landfall, it would stall and move very slowly, dropping massive amounts of rain. Then it would move well inland, dropping lots of rain trhough NC and into central Virginia just east of the Blue Ridge. I think that is still in play, the rain. BUt it is going to head more west, through Carolina, to Tenn. Kentucky, Ohio. There has been lots of rain along the east coast as of late, things are already pretty saturated, so that ain't good, especially for NC. The good news is, especially for the Outer Banks of NC, certainly for Va Bch, as well as perhaps overall, once it gets right off the coast or begins to make landfall, it is going veer SW. This will lessen its strength, down to CAT 2. A full force slam of a CAT 4-5 would have been devastating. THat kind of storm, well built brick and concrete structures would probably survive. Many stick built structures would be flattened. The Outer Banks? Fugetaboutit. Large portions would be completely underwater, 15-20 foot waves over what was days before dry land. The Sea and the Pamlico Sound would become one.
Everyone is in a hell of a better shape than the potential suggested just a day or 2 ago. There will be wind, lots of rain and flooding, tree limbs down and power outages. However, it could have been A LOT worse. Then again, it ain't over til it's over. For all anyone knows that thing could button hook, go right back out to sea, and make landfall somewhere else.
Hurricane Party? Funny, before a storm (hurricane or nor-easter) you go to the grocery store, women's carts are filled with 10 loaves of bread, cases of water, cases of canned goods, lunch meat, cakes, candles etc etc etc. Look in a man's cart, beer, beer, more beer. Chips, nuts, canned meat(spam, vienna sausages, sardines), and....beer.... batteries and charcoal for the grill. If the power goes, it's time to cook! Get drunk, fat and...happy? Sure, why not. It helps....women are miserable during a power outage. And you know what they say about misery.
Stay safe, Broken H! Sardines and beer, ymmv. If you have a basement, prop things up off of the floor on blocks of some sort. It's gonna rain, a lot.
