Have you met my new boyfriend Ernesto??

I'm not your typical girl and I'm not afraid of the weather. I survived a tornado hitting my farm as a kid, the Denver blizzard of 2003 when 41 inches of snow completely shut down the city, and recent tornados coming through Missouri. So when I moved to the mid-Atlantic during hurricane season it just didn't phase me. Not even during my hospital orientation when they talked about how I would be forced to stay and sleep in the hospital in the event of a disaster and that I should keep extra clothes in my locker. I mean the thing with hurricanes is that you can see them coming for days - it's not like those midwestern tornadoes we contend with where you may only have minutes to take cover. Now being a responsible pet owner, I did think about them and had already decided that if a hurricane headed here I would take them inland and kennel them so that I could be stranded at work for days with no concerns.

For the past two days the local news and the talk at work has been nothing but Ernesto - these people here are seriously obsessed with their hurricanes. Once it became a tropical depression I pretty much blew the whole thing off. So we get a bunch of rain and wind - big deal. We can get that in a strong thunderstorm in Illinois. Last night at work, people could talk of nothing else and folks were glued to the tv wanting to know "when it's gonna hit." It started raining pretty early in the night and I have to admit that by morning the rain was beating against the windows and there was an obvious wind. Still, it didn't look much worse outside than some of the thunderstorms with flash floods that I've encountered many times before.

As I was walking down the hall to leave, one of the other nurses said, "you live in Virginia Beach by Shore Drive right?" (the hospital is in Norfolk). I answered yes, then she said "good luck getting home."

So the problem isn't the hurricane or tropical depression or whatever - the problem is that downtown Norfolk ... the very spot where I work .... is surrounded by water and subject to flooding streets anytime there's heavy rain. I quickly did some reconaissance before leaving because the only streets I know in Norfolk are the ones I take to work everyday. Apparently the streets that are the first to flood in any circumstance. Armed with knowledge of new routes that "might not be flooded yet" I got into my car and set off. Then I had to deal with my second problem. I was almost out of gas. I had meant to fill up on the way to work, but I was running late due to traffic so I had planned on filling up near the hospital on my way out. My new route? Not quite sure where a gas station is in that direction.

Once I got out of the parking garage the extent became clear. Water was coursing through the streets and I saw one flooded out intersection two blocks from the hospital. Visibility wasn't the best due to the wind and rain so I missed my turn. While trying to make my way back, I hit more flooded out roads and quickly was driving in circles trying in vain to escape downtown Norfolk. As the minutes wore on, it became a very real possibility that my car was going to die. I finally found a group of gas stations .... but the power was out. (I should mention that power was out all over the place so every major intersection had become a 4 way stop sign making my drive MUCH LONGER and wasting precious fumes. ) I desparately asked the clerk where the nearest station was that had power, and she told me to get on the highway and head east because there was nothing around here. All the while the water is getting higher, and more routes are becoming impassable in my little Escort. I keep turning and getting more lost and finding more flooded intersetions and I won't lie - I was so frustrated and upset there were even a few tears. The underpass to get to the interstate was too flooded for my little car so I had to drive further until I found an exit I could get through. I got onto I-64 and prayed that I made it over the bridge and to an exit with power. This whole fiasco took about 30 minutes all the while I'm on "low fuel" warning which normally buys me about 25-30 more miles.

Thankfully I made it to the other side of the water, and quickly found gas. I filled up my tank and was so stressed from the experience that I stopped at Krispy Kreme and had not one but 3 donuts! Once I hit Virginia Beach, I knew the safe route to take though the roads were still pretty water logged. Now I'm safely home with my dogs who REFUSE to go out in the rain so I'm even more drenched from dragging them on their leashes to the yard to do their business.

I guess it's supposed to rain all day so I'm sure the hospital area will be quite flooded. But I'm off til Tuesday so what do I care??? There's a grocery store across the street, I'm on the second floor, and for the time being I have power. And all this stress?? Just due to a tropical depression, not even something big enough to be called a "storm."