Difference A Day Can Make
As Hurricane Dorian barrels closer to the Atlantic Ocean coastline (or actually by the time this prints has made landfall), it’s amazing the difference a few hours and a fearful forecast can make.
The kids and I along with my sister Karen and her hubby Ronnie decided about a week and a half ago that we would take a short Labor Day trip. Nothing fancy just fun! Originally I had suggested that we “do something fun” like an Atlanta United or Braves game or skydiving and just make a day of it.
However, my sis had a road trip on her mind and if you know anything about Karen, though she speaks softly, when her mind is made up it is made up—she is a Taurus and so is my mom. That’s all I am going to say.
O.K. so I suggested Jacksonville, mind you this was all before Dorian existed. It wasn’t that far and we have a close cousin who lives there with his wife and kids that we could visit but haven’t recently. Well she came back with Savannah which is only an hour and a half less than Jacksonville and to me isn’t a big difference in travel time.
Anyway we (she) settled on Savannah once again before the onset Dorian. Ronnie said nothing other than that he was just going along for the ride as the driver which meant I didn’t have to because I wasn’t letting my sister put our lives in peril.
Fast forward a few days to Wednesday of last week, I hadn’t heard from Karen about any concrete plans and at this point Dorian was forming in the Carribean. So I texted her about our possible plans and the advent of Dorian.
She asked if I still thought we should go or not. We were only planning a drive down Saturday and a return Sunday, and Dorian was still a bit away so it didn’t seem like a huge gamble to go.
Well Thursday morning, I got a text from Ronnie to call him when I had a chance. Like always, Karen had not divulged any details about our trip and he wanted to know what was going on. I told him we were both in the same boat at this point so like usual he and I would team up make plans and clue her in .
The plan was to leave for Savannah by 8.a.m. so in an effort to be on time, the kids and I spent Friday night with their aunt and uncle. Didn’t work, my sister was unprepared as usual so we hit the road about 9:30 a.m.
Upon arrival at our destination, it began to sprinkle rain and the sky was overcast. It didn’t stop us from heading out and about to downtown, it was just a little water. I noticed as we were driving around, that traffic was lighter than the norm for a holiday weekend in the tourist town. I thought either people are anticipating Dorian and staying away from the coast or people just didn’t want to be out in the weather.
We spent our afternoon and most of the evening out in the intermittent showers which kept us cool on a September day in the south. The next day brought a change in tempertures as the rain clouds passed and the sun shone brightly. We made our way to the outlets of Pooler and to visit family there as we waited for our cousin in Jacksonville to meet us for dinner. He was running late so our drive back was pushed back. When he arrived our caravan made its way back to River Street which was bustling with people in and out of the stores along with a vendor market and live band set up along the riverfront. It didn’t look or fell like a city waiting on Dorian. We headed back late that night with me driving.
On Labor Day as I did laundry and prepared for the week, I caught some news on the television. The station had a reporter on location in Savannah on the riverfront and it looked nothing like it had just 15 hours before. The station’s shots showed sandbags lining the street along the storefronts, windows taped, and people were scarce. What had changed…the forecast for Dorian. In the short time since we had left the city, Governor Brian Kemp had made a visit there to conduct a GEMA meeting with state officials and ordered a mandatory evacuation for parts east of I-95, that would be Savannah. Therefore I-16 had become an evacuation route with all lanes headed north and traffic somewhat heavy…a lot heavier than it was when I was driving back 12 hours earlier.
Seeing that television coverage made me thankful that Ronnie & I opted to drive back late (though we arrived home in the wee morning hours) instead of listening to my sister and stay an extra night.
It’s amazing the difference a day can make!