If Congress is Out of Session, Then This Must Be a REAL Hurricane

I always like to try and reassure myself that when we moved back to the D.C. area from Alabama, we were finally able to escape the annual threat of tropical storms and hurricanes (overlooking, of course, the hurricane that struck Washington in 2003, the year we moved back). Hanna had second thoughts, and in the past few hours she finished pounding our area with rain and heavy wind. Now, it's just wind.

As the picture shows, the damage to the yard was minimal; just a few limbs down and a large bush in the backyard crushed. The most damage came from water coming up under the foundation of our house into our basement rec room along two walls. It's not much fun spending Saturday afternoon using a steam cleaner to pull water out of carpet.

Now, of course, we turn our attention to Ike -- already a Category 4, and tentatively projected to head once again near Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. We're already praying for our friends throughout that area and hoping that this one decides to start spinning aimlessly in the Atlantic...