Out of the eye

Well, Mom came through Dennis relatively unscathed, just with the loss of a small tree, and considering the eye went directly over her, not bad! She said there was a half an hour that was truly frightening, when she and her neighbors lay on the floor in a sheltered hallway. She could hear tornadoes all around her -- as evidenced by the many twisted trees in her neighborhood. She said she even felt the walls vibrating from the wind. But compared to Ivan, the damage isn't bad. Thankfully, this storm was very compact and fast. And she swears this is the last one she'll ride out. Of course, she said this after Opal in 1995 and Ivan last year, but now I've got it in writing for the Web world to see, so I'll hold her to it.

Some interesting images:

Boats and debris litter Florida State Route 399 leading into Pensacola Beach, Fla., following Hurricane Dennis Sunday, July 10, 2005. The bay side restaurant The Palace was also damaged. (AP Photo/The Times-Picayune, Alex Brandon)
HURRICANE DENNIS US
Originally uploaded by HFBW.

Dan Thomas, of WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Fla., retrieves equipment from his station's satellite truck in Navarre Beach, Fla., Sunday, July 10, 2005, after Hurricane Dennis came ashore. (AP Photo/The Times-Picayune, Scott Threlkeld)
AYZAIR SAYS: Can't you just imagine it? A melodramatic reporter in hooded slicker saying, "Well, Bob, the wind's really picking up out here! It's getting harder and harder to stand up! You can really understand how this force can just pick up huge objects and turn them into projectiles -- THE TRUCK!!!!!!"
TOPIX HURRICANE DENNIS US
Originally uploaded by HFBW.

Eighty-year-old Alfreda Donze watches the waves of Lake Pontchartrain, pushed by winds from Hurricane Dennis, come crashing in at the municipal boat launch at West End Park in New Orleans, Sunday July 10, 2005.(AP Photo/The Times-Picayune, Eliot Kamenitz)
AYZAIR SAYS: "The family promised they'd come back for me. Surely they wouldn't just leave me out here all alone ..."
HURRICANE DENNIS US
Originally uploaded by HFBW.