I'm in Tampa. I hope and pray that this one of those times when meteorologists are wrong, but please keep us in your prayers as most of those "spaghetti models" look bad for at least a portion of the state. I'm in my parish office now, and while we're trying to be "business as usual," there are a lot of nervous people in here right now.

May I suggest the following prayer (besides and along with the rosary, litanies, etc.) - it comes from the "Masses for Various Needs and Occasions" in the Roman Missal, no. 37: "For an End to Storms"

O God, to whose commands all the elements give obedience,
we humbly entreat you,
that the stilling of fearsome storms may turn a powerful menace
into an occasion for us to praise you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Caleferink: Amen.

Living way down in south Florida, a few miles east of the Everglades. People are saying it's going to be like Andrew. Certainly hope not. That was bad. Lines at supermarkets and gas stations are quite long now.

If it continues on its path straight west, going between Cuba and Florida, it probably won't do much harm to much of the state EXCEPT for the Keys, they are right in its path. They better be somewhere else by Thursday or Friday. If it suddenly turns north along the coast, all the beaches, Hollywood, Miramar, may get major flooding. If it turns up a little and goes inland, it's gonna get ugly. Hunker down and pray it goes quickly. Close your windows and get your pets and loose furniture indoors.

Maybe if the system hovers over land long enough, away from water, it won't rain as much? And what happened to that supposed cold front coming from the north?

Sunday Mass is going to be interesting for sure. Our Cathedral has suffered from water damage due to flooding in the past. Probably best to turn off the sound system.

Just saw Monroe and Miami Dade counties under mandatory evacuation, Broward schools are closed. I really hope my in laws leave. Still too soon to tell but I wouldn't take chances.

Mother in law said tonight she is staying put in Miramar. Doesn't want to drive with the dog. Sister in law, niece, and husband are on a plane to New Jersey to stay with friends. No word yet on my father in law.

Caleferink,

Prayer stolen for the Cafe. Thanks!!

Well, here we are. Irma has passed. I am still here. As I'm sure everyone has seen on the news by now, the storm, given its sheer size, didn't totally spare anyone on the Florida peninsula. I can't speak for anyone else around here, but for my parish in Tampa, mercifully it was spared what was forecast as it ticked further inland. It has lost electricity (as did hundreds of thousands if not millions of customers) and it hasn't come back on yet. The church is still standing strong, the main body of it untouched. Even without electricity we were able to resume daily Mass this morning. A bit of water came in through the steeple and seeped in between the wall and the latex paint in the recently-added narthex. Unfortunately my choir room will be unusable for some time as there was water infiltration from underneath (the meeting room next door is an even soppier mess). The carpeting will need to be replaced, but hymnals, octavos, organ repertoire, etc. appear to be fine (I'll have to go in with a respirator mask to retrieve them, though). I'll have to work out of an auxiliary office for some time and find a spare meeting room for choir rehearsals and warm-ups, but given the images I've seen of places in the Caribbean points farther south in the state that got the full force of Irma I should be much more thankful.

Incidentally, I went to my fiance's home just northeast of here after the Saturday evening Mass (the only Mass we held this past weekend) to ride it out there, given its forecasted track. What would you know, it ticked east of that track and the eye wall came right over us in the middle of the night Sunday night-Monday morning! Thanks be to God the storm had scrubbed off in intensity by the time it got there and all I was doing Monday afternoon was helping rake small branches from the yard; there was a neighbor who had an oak tree uprooted and fall right at his front door.

I think that's it for now. Thank you for your prayers, and please continue them as this whole area tries to get back to a sense of normalcy. Fortunately the forecasted track of Jose makes it look like he had too much Cuervo and just curl around and hopefully harmlessly out to sea.

God bless,
Cal

Every region has its weather extremes - earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, blizzards. There really is no safe place to live when you stop and think about it. I am glad this one was not as bad as predicted. I have been chatting with friends in Jacksonville who are saying the lack of water and electricity are the worst parts. Prayers for all of them.

Ouch! If that happens, where will all of us who don't live in the Central Valley of CA get our fresh fruits and vegetables? It's not okay. I can't live without almonds and garlic.

Saskatchewan is pretty safe.

East Tennessee is pretty safe, too. We get the occasional weather thing, but the mountains tend to block the most severe weather before it gets to us in Knoxville. However, rainfall is high, so we may be too wet for some.

Fidem.,

IF you're far enough north and east, you're in snow country, and I used to drive through that neck of the woods to and from college.