It looks like I can ease up a little on worrying about my friends running up here to avoid Tropical Storm Hannah. The path has changed, and as of right now it looks like Hanna will be making landfall much farther up the coast. Of course there’s actually no way to know exactly where it’s going to hit right now, but I know my friends can safely return home.

I spent a good portion of the day on the phone with my friend, K, talking to her about what she was planning to do, trying to help her decide if she was out of the clear. I spent a good bit of the time trying to calm her down as well. She’s not native to the coast, and she’s never been through a hurricane or a tropical storm, so she’s kind of freaking out.

We talked about the guy she’s dating, the couch she just bought, her new exercise routine, diet pills that work, and anything else that could keep her mind at ease. Luckily she won’t have to worry too much about it now.

Well it looks like I won’t be getting the sleep or the pc time I had hoped for this morning. I’ve got a lot of stuff I have to do. I’ve got a whole heap of people headed this way. I offered up our home to as many of our coastal friends as I can fit in here due to Tropical Storm Hanna which was a hurricane, downgraded to a tropical storm, and is expected to become a hurricane again.

It’s headed right for the Charleston area and the South Carolina coast.

Not only is that in the exact location where we’re supposed to vacation in a couple weeks (Edisto Island), but it’s the area where many of my close friends live. I got the email this morning letting me know three of our friends are hitting the road today. They’re not sticking around to see what happens. They’re going to head up to see another friend in Columbia, then tonight they’ll make a decision to either stay in Columbia or make their way on up here. The problem with the Columbia friend is that he lives in a very small 1 bedroom apartment. If Hanna stays as a tropical storm they’ll deal with it, but if it becomes a hurricane they will head on up here to prepare to be away from home for longer.

There might be a bike sitting in my guest room right now, but I still have plenty of room to stash people. I have a sofa bed that’s been used exactly twice. I also have some of the most comfortable couches in the world, and our friends normally prefer sleeping on those couches instead of the daybed in the guest room. No matter what, if I have to stash people somewhere, I’ve got the room.

Heck I’ll set up tents in the back yard if I have to!

The last Hurricane to hit South Carolina was Hurricane Gaston. It was a category 1 storm that hit August 29, 2004, and a lot of people didn’t take it seriously because it wasn’t classified as a hurricane until after it hit. Gaston still left behind plenty of damage though. Before that was the devastating Hugo that I don’t think any South Carolinians will ever forget. So far Hugo is the 3rd most damaging hurricane in history. Andrew and Katrina were both stronger, more damaging, and definitely more devastating.

I had a really bad feeling that if I planned a beach trip in September, this would be the year we get hit head on. Did I jinx us?