Tropical Storm Flossie on Front Street

Tropical Storm Flossie hit Front Street late yesterday afternoon.  

I came into work at the restaurant to gloomy, overcast skies but there was no rain and very little wind.  The managers were discussing opening up the deck and setting up tables for guests when the storm rolled in from the east and dumped rain on top of us.

Everyone scurried to secure the restaurant and take care of guests that were already seated downstairs enjoying happy hour.

Upstairs, we rolled down our storm drapes and closed off the deck and planned on only seating the back reaches of the restaurant that are covered.

Right around the time we open the upstairs dining room for dinner, the rain slowed down to a trickle.  We began to seat guests and do our thing.

As the evening ticked along, the rain kicked up again.

Here are a few photos from the restaurant balcony overlooking Front Street at the beginning of the rain:

It's hard to tell how hard it's raining in these photos, but you can see that the streets are already starting to flood.

In the photo above, you can see the streets are flooded, the sky is dark and ominous.  The storm is really about to touch down.

Here's a short video of the happenings on Front Street:

Then, along the oceanfront, the sky above the water had turned a sickly green.  It almost looked like the kind of skies shown in tornado footage.  The wind began to pick up.  The gusts shook our storm drapes, knocking the thick rubber sheets against the tables.  Lightning danced over the water, lighting up the sky.

At around 6:30 at night, the managers decided that we were closing the restaurant.  We continued to serve the guests that were already seated, and by 7 pm, the last of our dinner orders were ordered and cooking in the kitchen.

By 7:30, the rain had died down again, but all of Front Street was closed.  Bryan had dropped me off at work earlier in the afternoon, and he came to get me after I had closed the kitchen.  We made a quick stop at Foodland, the grocery store and picked up a bottle of wine before heading home to have a Tropical Storm game night with our neighbors.

Bryan told me that while I was at work, the power had gone out for about 45 minutes, so he, Will and Jess had to play Sorry by the light of two tiny tea lights.  Note to self, buy more candles.

Thankfully, the rest of the evening was fairly uneventful.  The rain and wind picked up again a little bit closer to midnight, but it was fairly gentle compared to the weather we had experienced earlier in the evening.

This morning, the humidity is back with a vengeance, but the skies are clear.  Flossie has come and gone, and none of us are worse for wear.