It’s raining pretty hard just before sunrise. Obviously, I still have electricity and an internet connection. My hotel looks out over Mobile Bay, and I can see the lights of Mobile across the water. Interstate 10 over the bay is deserted; I’ve only seen three or four cars making the crossing.

I stepped out onto the balcony a few minutes ago. Steady rain, very little wind at this point. Mobile Bay is supposed to get some ungodly storm surge, like 20 feet or something. The water is already rising. Someone stuck a sea buoy into the marshy area between the parking lot and the bay with “IVAN” painted on it; I assume that may have been the high-water level when Hurricane Ivan struck here last year. The water this morning is well past that marker and lapping at the back parking lot.

I watched as a cop pulled into the lot. He (or she) fired up the car’s spotlight and did a very thorough check of the rising water and the mangroves. When we were here last month during Hurricane Dennis, I noticed a special guest of the hotel resting comfortably in the muck—an alligator. I’m guessing that cop and a few hotel employees might be wondering where that gator is going to end up.

The TV is blasting a seven-tone alert indicating that we are officially under a tornado warning. Of course, everyone here has the Weather Channel on. It’s a little strange when they break away from the studio or the live beach shots and run “Your Local Forecast” and the statistics. That soothing computerized voice-over comes on and says, “Winds southeast at 60 to 80 miles per hour.”