I'm from Illinois, right, which is land locked. Tornadoes are no big deal, but by the time any hurricane gets to us, its barely a tropical depression. More like a tropical melancholy. So my schema for hurricane is something like a tornado in the rain or a gigantic monstrous thing destined to be called "the big one" for years to come. Neither concept is being particularly useful for preparations for Earl's arrival. My cluelessness is only compounded by the fact that they're not exactly common in Rhode Island either.
I didn't even know Earl was heading our way til this morning when my mother texted me and my grandma e-mailed me. They were worried and my response was more like, what are you talking about. It doesn't help that I don't get a newspaper here and I don't watch much tv. I've since learned ALL about Earl and Rhode Island hurricanes in general thanks to the web, but I had to know to look for the information. It's a disarming feeling, the thought that something so physically huge could be so thoroughly ignored in a campus bubble. Granted, we're still in the middle of freshmen orientation and today was the first day of classes so everything's still a little crazy, but still.
My informational concerns aside, I'm a bit nervous about some logistics. I live on the first floor of a dorm on the lower end of college hill. Worse, this first floor is actually about 10-15 feet lower than ground level due to some funky architecture. It's not a basement, but almost. Also, some of my friends have already experienced their windows (same building, same floor) leaking during some rain about a week ago. Thus, I think I have reason to fear flooding. Additionally, I'm still sick, making any extensive preparations miserable.
The storm is supposed to hit Friday night, so we'll see how the little Midwesterner's first hurricane goes.