I heard from my parents in Pensacola (actually Navarre, at the eastern end of the inner of the 2 barrier islands) this morning. They are packing up and going to a friend's about 100 miles west of Biloxi, Mississippi for the next few days...the reports show the storm moving across Florida with a good chance of hitting them from the east. The forcast is for HEAVY RAINFALL WITH 4 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. ISOLATED AREAS COULD SEE RAINFALL TOTALS OVER 10 INCHES.

The outer island, where Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach are, was badly hit by a hurricane several years ago. A number of the beach homes were badly damaged or simply washed away...so they are being replaced by high-rise condos. Go figure.