Safe we are, and sound of body (if not exactly of mind!) And very, very grateful that it is no worse than it is. The power has come back on, and the water in the horse paddocks is beginning to recede. It's gonna be a while, though a sunny, breezy day like this will definitely help. They are saying that this is hurricane Floyd all over again, plus a little. After Floyd, Wilmington was functionally an island - all of the roads out of here were flooded and impassable. My mother lives near Goldsboro (roughly an hour inland), I talked with her this morning. They have power, but have been urged not to try to go anywhere for at least the next two or three days, as the rivers are rising and a lot of roads are not safe. My folks are on relatively high ground, so as long as they stay home, they probably will be fine. Mom said they measured about 8" (20 cm) of rain in their back yard, but they live in one of those odd spots that seem to be dry when everyone else is soaked. The official measurement near Goldsboro is almost double that, and all that water has to go somewhere.