No, not the awesome Indie rock group.  We are talking about Florence (the hurricane/tropical storm) and the Machine (my truck).

Timing can work for you… and sometimes not so much.  With tight schedules, we needed to get our truck and utility trailer up to New Hampshire ahead of our closings, and it so happened that Florence (the storm) wanted to take the same path.

“The storm should move up into West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and parts of New England by Tuesday, dropping 2 to 4 inches of rain there.”  Yup.  This was a Sunday through Tuesday trip. Perfect.

There are only so many ways to get from Atlanta to New Hampshire.  Do you see a parallel between the storm path and my projected route?

People, particularly in the eastern Carolinas, have been brutally affected by this storm, and you have seen and read all about that.  I found it incredible the size and impact of the storm beyond the Carolinas.

I traveled in its path as it departed the Carolinas, and I rode its’ crest for 1,200 miles from Atlanta to southern New Hampshire.

It rained on my trip almost from the very beginning in Atlanta as I headed up I-75 (obviously heading up I-85 through Charlotte was not a good option).  During a stop near Bristol, I checked the radar for where I was, and you can see I was sitting in pretty much the middle of the storm. That would continue all the way up to New Hampshire.

Due to the storm’s fury, large sections of I-95 were closed in the Carolinas.  Traffic was diverted away from the coast and re-routed through Atlanta, up through Knoxville and Roanoke, and only returning to I-95 only in northern Virginia.

Preparations for the storm had been laid out ahead of time, as evidenced at one rest area where they had stockpiled cases and cases of drinking water.

With an overnight stop in Roanoke, I again checked the radar.  Oh yeah, I had not lost the storm.

And you will see, not every business takes the same precautions.

And in Roanoke they were prepared for the storm’s effects.  Here you see trucks staged for whatever might be their purpose – tree removal I presume.

One of us is different. It only seemed right to park amongst my brothers.  You know, people like me who risk their lives getting up 30-50+ feet in the air to trim branches, remove tree, replace high tension wires… I think we all know I am the captain of the team.

And on up into Pennsylvania – samo samo.  Here is the radar for Scranton.

And on into Connecticut…

And on to the Mass Pike in Massachusetts and flooding closer to Boston…

And on into southern New Hampshire, where a good 3 inches of rain fell, even though the radar would indicate otherwise.

Can you even imagine how much rain this single storm produced?  Jaw dropping!  Mother nature is a tremendous force, not one to be messed with.  Hope everyone is safe and sound!