By The River

I suppose it is appropriate that on the six-month anniversary of By The River I am writing, once again, about a flood threat.

Living by the Susquehanna River in the Shipoke neighborhood of Harrisburg, Pa., means you occasionally crank up the Worry Machine if weather conditions appear conducive in some way to having a flood. It isn't possible to live here if you worry too much--you won't enjoy the parties and good life if you do--but it would be completely inhuman not to have at least a twinge of anxiety when the path of Hurricane Ernesto (may we call it Che?) appears to lead directly to central Pennsylvania.

This hasn't gotten much attention in the media, but we may get a whole lot of rain over the weekend, as much as 8-10 inches Accuweather.com's chart is to be believed. The City of Harrisburg has been tracking the storm since Sunday, I'm told, and is weighing whether it should postpone the Kipona Festival. That would be a blow to the arts and craft vendors, many of whom travel long distances to spend the weekend here and may have other shows to sell at the following weekend. But what are you going to do?

Of course, hurricanes can head toward the midstate only to peter out or turn out to sea before they drop much rain where it counts. If you read through the Accuweather site, you will findseveral good scenarios and bad scenarios for Ernesto.

All the same, people who live along rivers and streams in central Pennsylvania ought to make sure they have enough boxes to move their possessions from the basement and first floor living area to a higher floor. Office Max or Staples will sell you, for a reasonable price, flats of a dozen or so boxes that you assemble as needed. The building supply stores such as Home Depot and Lowes will sell you sawhorses on which you can raise those sofas and dining room tables that are too large to carry up to the second floor. Take advantage of these next couple of days to be prepared.