Hurricane Watches Out!

We now have Hurricane Watches along our beaches. I-65 is likely to be changed to all northbound lanes tomorrow morning from Mobile to Montgomery. Here's the latest statement from the National Weather Service regarding Hurricane Dennis:

HURRICANE DENNIS IS FORECAST TO MAKE LANDFALL ALONG THE CENTRAL GULF COAST SUNDAY NIGHT. DENNIS WILL LIKELY TRACK ACROSS WESTERN ALABAMA OVERNIGHT SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...PRODUCING SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF RAIN AND HIGH WINDS. A HIGH WIND OUTLOOK IS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA SUNDAY NIGHTAND MONDAY. WITH THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK...DENNIS IS EXPECTED TO BRING HIGH WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20 AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 20. WIND SPEEDS THIS HIGH WILL DOWN TREES AND CAUSE NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO LIKELY IN THE OUTER BANDS OF HURRICANE DENNIS. WITH THE CURRENT TRACK...DENNIS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. WITH ALREADY SATURATED GROUND INPLACE FROM CINDY...FLASH FLOODING AND RIVER FLOODING WILL BE LIKELY. RAIN BANDS FROM DENNIS WILL OVERSPREAD ALABAMA FROM THE SOUTH ONSUNDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE LIKELY ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA FOR THEDURATION OF DENNIS.CENTRAL ALABAMIANS ARE URGED TO CLOSELY MONITOR THE LATEST HURRICANE FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VIA THE INTERNET...NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS. POTENTIAL IMPACTS FROMHURRICANE DENNIS WILL BE SIGNIFICANT ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA IF THECURRENT FORECAST TRACK VERIFIES. PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE UNDERWAY AND EMERGENCY PLANS SHOULD BE READY FOR ACTION. WITH THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK AND STRENGTH...DENNIS COULD PRODUCE CONDITIONS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA VERY SIMILAR TO HURRICANE IVAN. AS WITH ANY HURRICANE FORECAST TRACK...POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE FORECAST TRACK...TIMING...AND INTENSITY OF HURRICANE DENNIS CAN BE EXPECTED AS NEW DATA BECOMES AVAILABLE.