Ride it out...

Hello, lovelies!
The hurricane came and went. Didn't do any major damage here, but I'll tell you guys how it went.
At lunchtime the wind was starting to pick up a little and the rain turned from mist to a steady shower. Sustained force, but not too strong, and not much gusting. By 5 there were sheets of rain and stronger wind. Low-lying areas were flooded, and some car windows had been broken out, whether by wind or flying debris. Still safe enough for people to be outside for short intervals of time. In fact, some guys were doing body-luge down the hills south of Barr Avenue. Dennis and I were watching from the 5th floor balcony with some of the other residents.
Shortly after that it got too windy to stay outside. The eye passed about 20 minutes from here, and we think the storm may have still been a category 1 hurricane when the strongest part hit our area.
After dark, tree branches were starting to break and take out power lines. We saw a few small explosions and some live wires dancing around near Suttle. Didn't regain power until early morning.
Classes and offices have been closed since noon yesterday and should reopen tomorrow morning. Cleanup crews are busy picking up branches around campus, particularly on the west side. There was one pane of glass blown loose in the first-year studio, so there are probably a lot of materials inside that need to be picked up, but again, no major damage.
Overall, it was less dangerous than tornadoes. The wind is pretty evenly spread, but the rain is worse. Plus this is much easier to prepare for than tornadoes.
So here's to Katrina for breaking all or most of the physical records!
Dennis is going to find some way to get back home this weekend to see if his house is still standing, or to help with the cleanup.
Hope everyone else managed to stay reasonably dry. If I hear any whining from Jackson, I'll say you should be beaten with a fish from the Gulf.