Ditto, BWL, re my family in Melbourne. They are watching closely and my cousins at Satellite Beach are prepared to evacuate to their daughter's home in Melbourne on the mainland. As long as they are OK with that plan, I am also. Family on the west coast, in and around Sarasota should be fine.

Looks like inland NC has dodged the bullet. Only 2 hurricanes have made it far enough inland to cause damage or major power outages in the 30 years I have lived here. Neither were fun, but nothing like the death, flooding and destruction possible along our coast, and especially nothing like what Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas have or are enduring from Matthew, even as I type.

With no thought of downplaying the dangers and devastations that have been or may be caused by hurricanes that hit the USA, or the long term and life changing impacts, I can not but weep even more for the people who live in Haiti, Cuba, and other countries in the Caribbean and Central America when they get slammed by major hurricanes.