No, it's not the un-official last line of the American National Anthem. It's our first alert of the season. Just a few days ago, there were articles in the local paper as well as from the National Hurricane Center in Miami saying something to the effect of "Just because the season's been quiet so far, doesnt mean that it wont GET busy now, as we're heading into the "peak" hurricane season of 2006.

The next day they reported on a "strong" tropical wave a few hundred miles east of the Windward Islands, and yesterday they found closed circulation and named it TD#5. By the next update, they started to forecast it coming pretty close to Grand Cayman on Monday afternoon. This morning, as I was in the bathroom doing morning-type things, I was counting out the hours and realized that Monday was only 72 hours away now. So the first thing I did was check the NHC's website and sure enough they've forecast the track to pass right over us, from East End to Northwest Point. Granted, it's still 72 hours away and the chances of it actually following the projected track for that long are pretty slim, it's still going to pass by pretty close. There's probably going to be a run on water and canned goods today and tomorrow at the grocery stores. I don't yet have all my supplies in place, but I'm not too concerned about it at this point. According to the Discussion posted at 4am local time, TD#5 just might dissipate over the open ocean before it gets here, or it may pass by as a Tropical Storm. If it strengthens, it wont be til late Sunday or early Monday, if it does at all. This weekend, Sunday probably, I'll make a run out to the storage locker and pick up a few things out of my supply closet. We may lose power due to wind or branches, but I really don't see any widespread damage happening like the last time to make us go without water or electricity for as long.

As usual, I'll post updates as they happen. Tune in soon, same bat-time, same bat-channel!