Hurricane Ike Rattling Floridians

UPDATED BELOW In its late afternoon update, the National Hurricane Center isn't as candid as foreign news sources, which outright say Hurricane Ike is headed "through the Florida Keys island chain as a ferociously destructive Category 4 hurricane into the Gulf of Mexico." But the meaning behind the NHC's latest discussion is plain enough:

ALL MODELS SUGGEST SOME SORT OF WEAKNESS IN THE RIDGE NEAR FLORIDA IN A FEW DAYS BETWEEN A RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC AND THE GULF OF MEXICO. THIS WEAKNESS MAY ALLOW A WEST-NORTHWEST OR NORTHWEST TURN OF THE HURRICANE.

Wall Street gamblers know what that means, too. Bloomberg's wire service has the doleful news:

Catastrophe bonds, used by investors to bet against natural disasters, fell for the first time since March as Hurricane Gustav lashed Louisiana, Tropical Storm Hanna headed for the Carolinas and another storm, Ike, approached Florida.

Translation: Don't bet now against a destructive storm hitting Florida.

To be sure, as NHC keeps telling us, "four- and five-day track forecasts can have significant errors." Forecasts beyond three days are highly uncertain. Anything can happen. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Anything can happen. Locals we're running into today are thinking that very same thing as they look over the plywood panels at Lowe's and pick up packing boxes large enough to hold all those family photos.

UPDATE
9-5 pm

Bryan at Why Now? in nearby Chumuckla riffs off Dr. Jeff Masters to point out we could "set a record" for six destructive strikes in a row.