Counting the hours with Milton

My, my, my, what a mess.

I spent a good chunk of Thursday with a rake cleaning up Mother Nature’s debris from Hurricane Milton, which roared through Central Florida during a night few of us will forget.

Of course, it’s all blog material to me. I decided to keep a diary Wednesday, of sorts, throughout the night. Here’s how it looked:

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— 5 p.m. Current situation: rain and wind, 20 mph gusts. Power is going strong, so I’m watching the baseball playoffs, alternating with Channel 28 news in Tampa, where the weatherman with the suspenders (I can never remember this guy’s name) is saying we should expect 10 inches of rain and 50 mph winds before the night is through.

They keep talking about the “wiggle” of the storm. Is that a scientific term? Citrus is quite familiar with the wiggle. I’ve lost count of the times we’ve been spared a serious hurricane hit because of a last-minute wiggle.

At least I have provision. Deb baked me a chocolate birthday cake, so I’m good for a few days. 

It’s getting dark. The wind is whistling. Milton is arriving.

— 6 p.m. Went for a short walk. I know…that’s dumb. There is something about being outside during tropical weather before it gets really ugly. Makes me feel vulnerable to God. I shouted out my gratitude to him in the wind.

The suspenders guy says to expect wind gusts in Citrus County of 70 mph. It’s feeling pretty gusty now. Only question is how long the power will last.

Not much on my collection of Facebook pages: County, Commissioner Holly Davis, Sheriff’s Office, and Mayor Joe Meek. I guess at this point we should have a general idea of what’s coming and when. Good news from Crystal River: No storm surge.

— 7 p.m. Wind is picking up. Not sure how much longer DirecTV will hold out. Watching Mets-Phillies, though the picture is breaking up. I think someone just hit a grand slam. Or it could be a Bud Light commercial. Can’t really tell.

Nothing new on the local Facebook pages. Mayor Meek has video of water being sucked out of King’s Bay at low tide. That had to provide some welcome relief for our coastal towns.

By the way, I’m not exactly the poster child for hurricane prep. I have six bottles of water in the fridge. Some Gatorade and 7-Up. The aforementioned birthday cake. Popcorn. You know, the usual hurricane staples. Only thing missing is a Wawa chocolate chip smoothie. Gotta sacrifice for safety.

Received an Alert Citrus message that’s a pretty good rundown of what’s coming. High winds and rain, tornadoes possible, stay sheltered. No more walks, Mike.

I settle on the porch, where I can hear and see the storm. Let me tell you something: Weather is loud.

— 8 p.m. TV off. It’s Milton time. From my porch, I have a good view of State Road 44 and the city boat ramp. I’m amazed there are cars on the road. I see a car pull into the boat ramp parking lot, looking for a brace from the wind. The rain is blowing sideways. I wonder, under what circumstances are people driving into Inverness during a hurricane? I pray they arrive safely.

I made the call no blog on Thursday. Even if the electricity somehow lasts through the night, I don’t like the idea of posting a full blog while the storm is still active. 

AccuWeather says current maximum wind gusts are 36 mph, which means we’re still 20 mph away from the projected high point. It’s windy enough right now if you ask me.

Lights are starting to flicker.

— 9 p.m. Starting to settle in. The weather link from the sheriff’s Facebook page says the highest gusts in Inverness will be 55 mph at 2 a.m. If that’s to be believed, we have five more hours of this intense wind before it hits the peak.

— 10 p.m. I'm getting sleepy.

— 11 p.m. There goes the electricity. The power’s out, so no reason for me to stay awake all night, right? Man, in my younger days, I wouldn’t sleep a wink during a storm. At a fresh 66, nothing interrupts snooze time.

Little wary of the bedroom, which faces the teeth of the wind and is all windows. So, I grab a couple pillows and crash on the living room couch.

— 4:30 a.m. Awake. It’s quiet. You never know how much noise electricity makes until the power is off. No winds either. I grabbed my phone for a Facebook post to start the day, then went back to sleep till daylight.

— 1:40 p.m. Power restored!

We made it. Again. Good riddance, Milton.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends.

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