Hurricane Sally has landed directly on my son, Christopher. He is based in Pensacola with his wife for his assignment with the Navy. She moved there while he was deployed, knowing that was the next destination for them. He just returned from a seriously extended deployment due to corona less than a month ago. Heck of a welcome!

The video they showed me early this morning, was seriously scary. Good thing that palm trees are fairly flexible. It seemed that the trees outside their windows were nearly horizontal and the leaves were seriously whipping in the driving rain. In the dark, it looked really scary! At that time, they had power. They lost power in the middle of the night. Not too worried - they have generators.

And then came the dawn.

Sally's still sitting on Pensacola. She's not in any hurry to go anywhere it seems. And that means rain - LOTS of it! Christopher's car is already submerged to the doors. Water is coming into the house and through the windows. There's more than 6" through the house so far. And the rain hasn't even slowed down. The generators were not high enough, so they will lose their food, their cars and their home. This is not going to be good. I saw one forecast calling for over 30" of rain. This is not going to be good at all!!

All of her family lives in Pensacola. I also have high school friends there and friends along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to the Keys. I'm sure they are all dealing with similar situations. Gulf Port, Mississippi was hard-hit by Katrina. There are places that we used to enjoy with them that aren't there after Katrina hit. I'm afraid it will be similar with Sally. That much rain just can't be dealt with.

Meanwhile

Fires continue to rage in the west - many of them seem to have been intentionally set. Who could do such a thing is beyond me. Oh, what Sally could do to help them out in ending the fires. 30" of rain would go a long way towards ending that problem.

Colorado is having the earliest snow storms that anybody remembers for a long time. The Rocky Mountains and roads through are closed. The continuation of a seriously twisted, crazy year. If anybody had called any of this, you would have thought they were out of their minds. Turns out, they would have been dead on!

I went to grad school in South Carolina. Hurricanes were just an excuse to have a party and bet on where and when it would land as well as how strong it would be. It was fun. We weren't in harms way more than a significant thunderstorm and some wind. There wasn't much damage.

Those storms were child's play compared to what we've seen lately. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt, right?

And there are several more named storms in the Atlantic waiting to take their turn. Paulette, Rene,Teddy and Vicky are waiting their turn to follow Sally. Apparently, this is only the second time - ever - that such a situation has happened. Uff da! That's more than enough!!

Rumor has it that manditory evacuations are now underway for Pensacola. Nice timing. Unless you've got a canoe or boat, I don't think you're going very far, very fast! Downtown Pensacola is under water. The venue that Christopher and Elissa were married in, The Lee House, sits right literally on the coast is damaged. My favorite Irish pub is flooded. Pensacola is home to two Naval stations as well as the Blue Angels. It's a beautiful city. I'm sure it will dry out and will be again.

Yesterday, there was a report of a barge hitting a bridge in Pensacola. So in addition to Sally, one of the major access points to the islands is damaged. And last week, there was an earthquake about 40 miles north of Pensacola. It just keeps getting better!

I swear, it's straight out of a movie! Never ask 'what else can happen?' If it wasn't so serious and dangerous, it would be absurdly funny. But it's not funny and it is extremely serious. If Sally ever gets her butt in gear and moves on, she is supposed to head Northeast and veer across Georgia and the Carolinas back into the Atlantic. Hopefully, she loses steam and Pensacola gets the worst of it. Having the entire South flooded and destroyed would take tragic to a whole new level. Even Sherman had a limit to his destruction. Sally seems to know no such limit at this time.

So meanwhile, this mom is worried sick about her kids and her friends. Worst part - not a damn thing I can do about it. We all talked about what they needed to do to prepare and stay safe. They did all the right things. But who can anticipate 30" of rain?

I'm sure the animals are lined up two by two and the Ark is docked somewhere in the town square! If you're a praying person, there are a whole lot of folks who an use them today!

Go away Sally!

Christine