I was honestly looking forward to some harsh rain and winds despite Fay never gaining hurricane strength.

What’d I get? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Here it is 5 after 10pm on the day the storm hit the shore of Florida, and I haven’t experienced one drop of rain, nor any winds out of the usual for this time of year in my area!

To say I’m ticked is an understatement. I mean, grant it, I got a lot done today that I probably wouldn’t have been able to had the scenario been different, but I was really looking forward to some torrential rain at least.

What really bothers me about this is that it does nothing more than contribute to what I call the “boy-who-cried-wolf” syndrome that my area has seemingly fallen victim to over the last several years. We haven’t had a severe storm in our area since Charley in 2004. The problem with that is everyone is seemingly complacent now. Grant it, Fay was only expected to be a category 1 hurricane when she made land-fall, which really isn’t that bad. HOWEVER, it’s still worth taking note of. It is still worth taking objects that could be come airborne off the patio/porch (most of my neighbors did NOT). IT IS STILL A FORCE TO NOT BE RECKONED WITH. Yet, many, myself included brushed it off. Unfortunately, I fear that very soon, we will not be so lucky.

I truly fear that day.

If you are a Floridian you can NEVER not take a hurricane seriously, yes, Tampa area, we have skirted many of the recent storms, but that only happens for so long. I joked that God protects us because of Pastor Randy and Paul White (of Without Walls fame), but they’ve divorced, so I think the Big Guy, is going to start lifting that bubble He’s had us in. Of course that’s all really stupid and a complete joke, I’m just saying we really need to start taking these storms a little more seriously.

Well, it appears that Florida has it’s first potential hurricane of the 08′ season to deal with.

That’s right folks, mother nature does not take a break because school is returning to session in most of Florida on Monday the 18th. She certainly could care less about the Olympics (I mean after all they’re in China for the love of pete!).

What she does care about is the fact that most of Florida…well West-Central Florida has pretty much become the main character in a boy-who-cried-wolf story over the last several years. We have had many storms suppose to hit us that did not hit us. We’ve had even more that have caused extreme levels of devastation all around us and it really hasn’t woke us up too much.

This one I think is different.
Grant it, it looks like it’ll only hit as a Category 1, and perhaps not even a strong ‘cat 1,’ but I was quite surprised while I was picking up some odds and ends at Wal-Mart tonight to replenish (well, actually to create) my hurricane survival kit how many people DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A STORM OUT THERE, much less that it currently has a high probability of hitting the metro Tampa Bay area.

Luckily, I beat the crowds. I have a feeling pandemonium will ensue starting late tomorrow night and in to Tuesday. I could be wrong, we’ll see.

If you have not started preparing for the storm season (like me) then now would probably be a good time to do so. It lasts until November, and who knows what is in store.

For information on what you should prepare for your ‘hurricane kit’ I recommend heading over to Winn-Dixie’s site, they have a great hurricane essentials check-list that you can use.

For up-to-date information on Tropical (Hurricane) Fay, check out National Hurricane Centers website.

Stay safe, and HAVE A PLAN!