It’s wet and barely light in Naples, but this city is buzzing. News crews from all over - CNN, The Weather Channel, NBC News - are broadcasting often. How many images of people boarding up can you possibly watch? The answer is an infinite amount. There’s little else on any television, even our own. I’m starting to dream about the weather. Every conversation Mark Guss and I have involves it. We debate landfalls, category strengths, possible scenarios. Yesterday we checked our hotel room windows and found one was broken. The glass wobbled worse than an Ybor City patron after last call. No good, especially when you’re on the third floor and facing the same direction that Wilma will come roaring. Luckily, it’s been fixed - sort of. A hotel worker jammed two thin boards into the window frame, and put some sealant on the glass. The feeling of safety now is overwhelming.

Downtown Naples last night was slow. Restaurants were understaffed. Late-night menus with appetizers replaced full dinner menus. The roads are not crowded. Parking lots empty. Even the mall, which workers there said would not close, wasn’t terribly busy.

This morning, Guss and I are driving to Everglades City, the lowest point in Collier County, to see how the mandatory evacuation is going. It’s a bit of a drive, but at least I know we won’t lack for conversation.