I only THOUGHT I needed to remodel my laundry room

What I really need is hurricane shutters. Or impact-resistant windows. Or maybe a new roof -- I am still waiting to find out how well mine survived the storm.

I wonder how many other SPI residents are reaching the same conclusion this morning.

I am posting this entry from the VIP Club in Rome Fiumicino airport while awaiting my flight to Bari. Four thousand miles away from Blackbeards, the wide-screened TV is tuned to CNN International where I am treated to the totally surreal vision of my beloved island - battered and under water - over and over again in the news loop.

It is hard to believe that just a few days ago Dolly didn’t exist as anything more than a name on a list.

Since it is the middle of the night in Texas, I can only imagine what my once-lovely backyard now looks like. Did my windows sprout leaks? Did my shingles fly away? Did the renters upstairs (yes! I had renters!) regret their decision to come in spite of the predictions?

I won’t be back home again until Aug. 8th and so will not get to see first hand the worst of what Dolly did to my island -- in this respect I am like so many other absent property owners who I am sure are sharing my frustration.

But I am seeing it on TV - over and over again - and it just makes me want to cry.

fragments of news from the Island

I got through to a couple of people but the connections were so bad that I didn't get a lot of news before the calls failed. Walter says his place is fine but there is visible damage elsewhere. I briefly got through to my housesitter who said something like "we're okay but your neighbor---"

News releases from Melissa Zamorra suggest that people have been seriously injured trying to leave shelter too soon. Hopefully news will get reported on the new thread at www.spiforum.org - I suspect that most folka don't have internet access in addition to power outages.

Dolly update - from Houston

I caught the last flight out of Harlingen yesterday and spent the night in Houston to allow me to get to a job in Italy on time, so I am anxiously perusing all news sources of Dolly's imminent landfall very near to if not directly on South Padre Island. John, my Very Capable Housesitter, seems to be most concerned about the surge - says the water is already halfway up the driveway with high tide or the storm not even there yet. I filled 10 sandbags before leaving town, but when I talked to him a couple hours ago he was talking about filling some trashbags with sand from the sandbox.

Pretty nerve-wracking, actually.