This past week started off with me losing sleep Sunday night worrying about Irene. Sometime between last Sunday's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. update from the NHC, Irene's track shifted from skirting South Florida to making landfall around St. Augustine. By early Monday morning, expected landfall was around Brunswick. Needless to say, I panicked. Mildly. Yes, I was raised in Florida. Yes, hurricane season has been an inconvenient reality for my entire life. However, I have never lived in one of those pesky mandatory evacuation zones.
I live on a barrier island, which on most days, is lovely and pleasant. I'm only 15 minutes from the beach. I get to experience the psychological shift that takes place, however faint, every time I cross the Intracoastal. But that loveliness and pleasantness takes on a different form when you check the handy dandy chart put out by Chatham County and realize that, even with just a tropical storm, you have to evacuate.
Blessedly for those of us in coastal GA, Irene turned north and we were spared. The forecast had Irene off our coast late afternoon/early Friday evening. Our biggest worry here was coastal flooding - especially at high tide, which was at 6:25 Friday night. Local authorities were warning folks to stay off of Highway 80 heading out to Tybee if possible, and while I had planned on heeding that warning all day, I just couldn't help myself. So, I came home, changed clothes and headed out to the beach.
The water along the causeway was certainly the highest I'd ever seen it, and once I got out to the beach, water came up to just about the end of the ramps across the dunes. The waves were fairly rough, and technically the water was closed to swimmers and surfers, but inevitably there were some daredevils who couldn't stay out. So, enjoy the pictures from the perspective of my iPhone (with a little help from Instagram), and say a prayer for all those impacted by Irene.
