Dear Conch-Lers:

Since there seems to be so much interest in FLOYD, I will give you a report
a little farther  up the Atlantic coast.  Florida and Georgia got off
fairly well, although I understand there may be some residual flooding in
Charleston.  The Carolinas didn't do too well, or Virginia.  But you would
have thought by the time the storm got to little old Delaware it would have
been worn out.  Not so!

We started out with rain early this morning and it continued all day until
just about 6 pm, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, and sometimes very
heavy.  This resulted in a lot of flooding, roads awash, some buses got
stranded in the downtown city area, as well as a great many cars and trucks
that were sure they could make it across the flooded intersection.   Some
people were moved out of their homes temporarily.  And there are many
places still without electricity.

Of course the wind was also a problem, most of the time between 30 and 40
but occasionally gusting to 50 miles per hour.  A good many trees came
down, and it seems like if they had a choice which way they fell, it was
always across the road.  Schools were closed and many businesses shut up
shop early.

A real tragedy occurred late this morning when three little girls playing
in the current of water racing down their street in Bear, Delaware (a small
town adjacent to Wilmington) lost their footing and were carried along with
the stream.  One was found fairly quickly and is now in
the hospital; but as of  6 pm tonight, the other two had not been found but
I keep hoping.

Tonight the wind has picked up a little since we are now on the backside of
the storm, but the rain seems pretty much stopped.  They are predicting we
may even have sunshine tomorrow.  New Jersey and Pennsylvania are getting
it now, and there is much concern about the effects when it reaches New
York City early tomorrow.

How did I fare - just fine.  We live in a lovely retirement community on
the outskirts of Wilmington that fortunately is on high ground so there was
no problem with flooding.  Lots of rain (8 1/2" was the last report I
heard, and that was about an hour before it stopped) but it  ran off.  Well
what was on the roads did, but what flowers in my backyard garden survived
our drought this past summer will probably all be drowned in one of the
numerous puddles that the earth is now too saturated to absorb.

Probably have written too much, but it has been a memorable day.  Good Night.

Betty Jean, The Tall One