Here we go again!

The latest forecasts have Hurricane Francis coming onshore in Central Florida early Saturday afternoon, then basically skirting along Interstate 4 and moving offshore around New Port Richey about 24 hours later. Polk County would be in the centre of the track, which means what we will probably get from this storm would make Charley look like a walk in the park.

The traffic along Interstate 4 is steady as residents from the Atlantic coast are heading for safety. This link is to a FDOT camera looking eastbound on I-4 at Florida 33 in Lakeland; the traffic from Orlando is coming toward the camera. This one is the FDOT camera looking westbound at Champions Gate near the Osceola County line; the traffic from Orlando is heading away from the camera.

Looking around town today, the Home Depot looks like Wal-Mart at Christmas time, with a line waiting for plywood and other necessary items. Many of the convenience stores are doing steady business in gas/ice/beer. Schools and most government offices are closed tomorrow, and several shelters opened this afternoon. But don't try to mess with high school football! Some private school games and teams that were scheduled to play outside of Polk County had their games cancelled, but games scheduled for within Polk were simply moved up from Friday to this evening. Hey, it's the first regular game of the season...gotta get that school spirit up, eh!?

Gotta work tomorrow, at least until noon. We'll see what happens. It'll be an interesting day.