Today is an ominous day. A day of waiting for the hurricane to come ashore and tear its twirling terror away from it’s source of strength, the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The storm now is packing winds of 145mph as it is attacking the Ft. Walton Beach area of Florida. Even at several hundred miles away we are experiencing the far reaching tentacles of the most dangerous part of the storm. The hazard is not the powerful winds nor the destructive storm surge of water topping beach sand dunes, it’s the heavy rains that we fear here in western North Carolina.

The rains bring flooding not just to the low lying tidal areas near the coasts of our states but with all the hills and mountains in the west a quick shower of rain in a flat area can turn into a raging torrent of water sweeping people, trees, cars and houses on its way to the the bottom of the hill, drowning all in the abyss of destruction.

The rain here is picking up now. No longer gentle, I’m wondering what may be in store for us today.