Hurricane Dolly is the second hurricane of the season and is a category 1 hurricane. The storm is not expected to do much strengthening before it makes landfall tomorrow but it is expected to produce a lot of rain in the area.

Foreseeing the imminent landfall of Hurricane Dolly the American Red Cross has issued a checklist for residents to use to prepare.

• Monitor media reports. Watch TV, listen to AM/FM or NOAA weather radio and check the Internet for updates.
• Review or develop a family communication plan so you will know how to contact each other and where to meet. Identify an out-of-area contact person that family members and friends can call if you are separated from one another.
• Register with the Red Cross Safe and Well Web site. If you are affected by a disaster, this public site provides a way for you to register yourself and communicate your well-being to your family members. You can input information directly or via phone. The site is accessible via www.redcross.org.
• Update or create your disaster supplies kit. Your kit should have the following items: 3-day supply of water (1 gallon per person, per day), nonperishable food, manual can opener, flashlight, battery-operated or crank radio, extra batteries, first aid kit, prescription and non-prescription medications, cash, and copies of important documents such as bank account numbers, social security card, driver’s license and insurance policies.
• Prepare your home. Bring inside: bicycles, lawn furniture, trash cans, hanging plants, outdoor decorations or ornaments, or anything else that can be carried by the wind. Close windows and doors, then close hurricane shutters or cover windows with plywood.
• Stay away from floodwaters. If you come upon a flooded road, turn around and go another way. If you are caught on a flooded road and waters are rising rapidly around you, get out of the car quickly and move to higher ground. The floodwaters may still be rising and the car could be swept away at any moment.
• Plan your evacuation route. Use local maps and identify alternate evacuation routes from home, work and/or school. Know where you are going and how you plan to get there before you leave home.
• Evacuate immediately if advised to do so. Follow the direction of local authorities on which routes to take, which evacuation shelters to seek and other important advice.
• Take your pets with you. If it is not safe for you, it is not safe for them. Red Cross emergency shelters cannot accept pets unless they are service animals. Prepare a list of family, friends, pet-friendly motels and boarding facilities that could shelter your animals.

For more information on hurricane preparedness, or to register a family member on Safe and Well, visit www.redcross.org, or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Having my power go out during a thunderstorm made me realize that I really am not ready for hurricane season. Number one, I have tons of flashlights and I know this to be a fact, but when the lights went out I was not able to find one. Over the years, since Hurricane Charlie I have be prone to purchase flashlights when I see them on sale or clearance. My reasoning was you can never have enough flashlights, but when the lights went out in my house I was not able to find one flashlight.

Then there is the important thing like having available drinking water. I had relied on the water that came dispensed from the door of my refrigerator for years, but when there is no electricity there is no flowing water from the refrigerator. Even with if there was water coming from the fridge it might now be safe to drink after a hurricane. There have been numerous times in the past where residents of certain areas have had to boil their drinking water, but with no power this is cannot be done. Now I have to go stock-up on my gallons of water and other supplies.

I think that a few fairly quiet hurricane seasons have gotten me complacent once again. But these crazy thunderstorms that knocked out my power are the Braxton-Hicks contractions that are there to prepare me for the real labor of a hurricane.

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Hurricane Bertha is strengthening as it takes travels WNW at 17 mph throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Bertha’s current track keeps it east of the United States and no hurricane warnings or watches have been issued for any land areas.

Bertha is the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. At the start of the season, last month, we had our first tropical storm and things have been fairly quiet in the Atlantic since then. However, the height of hurricane season is mid-August to mid-October.

Source: National Hurricane Center

Tropical Storm Bertha is projected to go across the Atlantic Ocean. The centered path currently has Tropical Storm Bertha avoiding the Caribbean. Bertha is headed west at 21 mph and has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Tropical Storm force winds are extended out 105 miles from the center of the storm. Bertha does not pose an immediate threat to any land.

Source: National Hurricane Center.