Just chatted on AIM with my friend Sherry, who is an editor at the paper in Fort Pierce. She's working from home while she cares for her mother. A reporter and photographer are also holed up with her there.
I asked her what the gusts were up to now:
Sherlee: about 80 mph. now no power i'm on battery laptopPosted by Jeff at September 4, 2004 03:34 PM
Jbh34997: Are you at home?
Sherlee: im at home. generator is on at st. lucie west. whole city has no power.
Jbh34997: Port St. Lucie or Fort Pierce?
Sherlee: psl. i lost power at about 1 today pm
Sherlee: no power at my mom's. derek went over and got her while he and alison the photog went out for pix. i told them they were nuts
Jbh34997: Where are they predicting landfall?
Sherlee: now they're saying between sebastian and fort pierce about 2 a.m. sunday
Jbh34997: Has the storm surge hit yet?
Sherlee: we have had several squallls. i'm on a lake so i'm waiting for it to come into my living room. worst is yet to come they say. wind is bad rain is not so far
Jbh34997: Have you heard how bad the Indian River Lagoon is? How high are the tides?
Sherlee: derek and alison were at marina today. tides weren't too high, was just really choppy. that was around noon
Jbh34997: More importantly, what's the cat situation?
Sherlee: one's on the bed one's under. but the black one isn't attacking my mom, which is good. but mom's claustrophobic and the shutters on all the windows is making her more nuts than usual
Sherlee: and derek and alison are camping out with me so there's four of us with no electricity and nothing to do
Jbh34997: I say you push mom and the black cat outside for amusement purposes. See how both of them react. I bet it would be real similar.
Sherlee: yeah i'm about to push one of them out the door. guess which one
Jbh34997: Well, knowing that mom doesn't have an automatic water bowl at her disposal, I'm putting my money on her.
Sherlee: uh huh. i'm trying to get some benadryl in her to make her sleepy
Jbh34997: Two words: NyQuil Smoothie.
Sherlee: yep. i wish
Jbh34997: Well, take care of yourself. Hope your power isn't out too long. I'm sure the highly tuned PSL city crews will have things back in order in no time.
Sherlee: i hope. i hafta work outta psl tomorrow
Jbh34997: Not if there isn't electricity you won't.
Sherlee: yeah we'll see. or if st. lucie west isn't there anymore
Jbh34997: Sad to think that the Big K store might be hit. What would PSL do for commerce?
Sherlee: uh huh
Jbh34997: As long as it doesn't wipe out the pizza and barbecue shops, you guys will survive.