But I wanted my roof to blow off

Strange folks, Floridians.

Not content with being on the receiving end of 6 hurricanes in the past three seasons, not wanting New Orleans to have all the fun again, we embraced reports this past Sunday that Tropical Storm Ernesto had taken a sudden and unexpected turn north and was now bearing down on Florida, with the potential to become a Category 2 or 3 hurricane by the time it hit the peninsula.

In South Florida, and to some extent here in Central Florida, generators were snatched up at Home Depots. Batteries, water and nonperishable goods flew off the shelves at local supermarkets. Lines at gas stations became long and tiresome. ATM machines were busy. But by golly, we were preparing. Better late than never (hurricane season started June 1).

And for one brief, shining moment, Ernesto became Hurricane Ernesto, a very weak category 1 with 75 mph winds, which was expected to strengthen as it moved north of Cuba over the warmer Gulf waters, battering Miami and environs with 100 mph + winds.

And then a funny thing happened. Ernesto wimped out.

Never strengthening, and actually returning to tropical storm status, Ernesto hit South Florida and made its way north. By the time it reached Central Florida, it was only a tropical depression. Not exactly a light breeze, but with sustained winds of less than 39 mph - the speed needed to become a tropical storm - certainly manageable. And indeed it was.

Schools had closed all over Central Florida on Wednesday in anticipation of hurricane force winds. Some businesses and government offices followed suit. Heck, they had started moving the space shuttle Atlantis off the launch pad. Instead, all day we had mild wind and some rain squalls. Our office was officially closing at 3:30 Wednesday; mostly because we were expecting the worst of the storm to arrive between 5 and 6 p.m., but partly, I think, because the managing partner felt sorry for us folks in Orlando having to work all day while our offices in Viera and Fort Pierce (both on the east coast) had Tuesday afternoon and all Wednesday off in anticipation of the storm that never came. I left work at 4:30 that day, and quite frankly, I've driven in worse thunderstorms. I even stopped at the market on the way home. Althought it rained harder later, Ernesto was indeed a washout.

And then the most amazing thing happened. Instead of being grateful for the storm that wasn't, people complained that it was much ado about nothing. They were disappointed that nothing happened. They went out and stocked their hurricane kits FOR NO GOOD REASON (mind you we are only half-way throught the hurricane season). People questioned the credentials of meteorologists, who were as puzzled as we were, and of course the news media got slammed for making mountains out of molehills.

Me? I'm grateful that I'm safe and my apartment is intact. I now have an extra gallon of drinking water available, and a few extra cans of spaghettios. Central Florida got a good amount of rain which actually had a chance to soak into the ground and will ease the drought we've been experiencing this summer. And my renter's insurance won't get another hurricane deductible added to it like it did after the 2004 season. This time. Now the Carolinas have to deal with Ernesto, and I for one hope they fare as well as we did.

August and September are typically the worst months for hurricanes. With August now over, I prefer to think of Ernesto as a dress rehearsal for what may still be coming our way. Predictions were for 15 named storms, with a third of them being major. We're only through 5 names with no major storms yet. Floridians, don't despair. We still have many opportunities for another Andrew. I hear that was a blast.