Thanks for updating us on your status, everyone.
Here on the banks of Lake Ontario we are expected to have high winds until 10pm tonight, averaging around 40-50 mph and with some gusting up to 70 miles per hour--which is nothing compared to what people hit by the line of tornadoes moving northeast have experienced this week.
Right now it sounds as though a freight train is whipping by the house and the electricity has gone off a few times, though it is bright and sunny and about 45 (it feels colder in the wind). I've locked the windows (we had one blow-in an unoccupied bedroom one windy day) and moved my car down our driveway as much as possible, away from the dead trees, the swaying branches and the pines in the back of my neighbor's yard that have such a shallow root system. I saw a small black chihuahua down the street blow down the sidewalk when I went out to the mailbox, though his owner came running to scoop him up. So far the only other damage is my hair, which looks like Medusa's right now. What's the point of brushing it if I am venturing outside for a moment? Crossing my fingers that this will fade away for everyone.
Here's a link to those trying to give immediate help to those in the Midwest and Southeastern areas hit hardest--CNN announced that a surfeit of volunteers have already starting pouring in--inadvertently causing more problems for those trying to coordinate everything:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/world/iyw ... index.html