Hurricane part 3

Still raining. Lots of rain. Pouring rain. High winds. No flooding in my area, but other areas, still to the East (a couple of miles) have lost power, phone and there is flooding, trees down, etc. No reports of injuries or anything like that yet.
Emily has started to strengthen a lot. Last report claims a "burst of energy". Wonder where she got that from? The other islands to the North are starting to get blasted. Poor Grenada is getting hit AGAIN, 8 months after Ivan destroyed 90% of the housing on the island. Most rebuliding has only now started, and some are glad that they haven't - imaging rebuilding only to lose your house again...

Hurricane part 2

It's been raining really hard for about 3 hours now, and the storm is only now approaching. Wind is picking up, but nothing is flying around in the air or anything yet. No flooding in my area yet. Other areas more to the east (like Tobago and Toco) are being hit first, and we're hearing a lot of flooding, high seas, some trees down, but no injuries or anything like that yet.
I think I'll be fine. I live in a pretty sheltered area.
Getting lots of email from friends abroad. Nice to get the concern.
Emily is now a hurricane - only Category one. Can't compare to Ivan, Dennis or any of the great storms, but it's bad enough for me.

Hurricane - first one to hit Trinidad in recorded history

Hurricanes always miss Trinidad. They hit Tobago, most famously and destructively in 1963 (Flora) and Grenada (Ivan, 2004). But Trinidad, NEVER! At the last minute, they always veer North or East, and we don't even get rained on.
Well, all good things must come to an end. Tropical Storm Emily is heading our way. Not turning North at all. 12:30 PM the PM gave an order for everyone to go home. I was lucky - living 2 miles from work, it only took me 1 hour! Makes no sense for the entire country to get out onto the roads at the same time! Good thing the storm is only scheduled to hit 6 hours later.
So - I decided to start the blog on this. Lets see how it goes.
I've got the water, taped the windows, checked batteries for flashlights, radio, etc., cleared the yard of anything that might fly (debris, furniture etc) while being laughed at by my neighbours, as it wasn't raining.
So I'm inside, checking the NOAA site and waiting.