HURRICANE NEWS AND UPDATES
Please keep checking back here for information that will be posted has is possible.
Oldest entries are at the bottom.  Be sure to read all of them so that you will have the full picture and news.

WE ARE LOCATED NEAR WEST PALM BEACH
in Palm Beach County, Florida

Get current forecast path information.
This is the local website that we use to track all the storms.

Click on images for a larger view in a new window. These images are updated automatically and are the property of AccuWeather.com and are linked to WPECNews12.com
Current threat:	Radar	Satellite Image
None at this time

9/26/04 - 9:00pm EST - We survived Hurricane Jeanne.  Unfortunately, my car did not.  A very large palm tree decided that my car had a big bulls eye on it and crushed it.  I will be posting pictures tomorrow.  We do have power and internet back (less than 24 hours--Thank you FPL!) and will be returning to normal operations as soon as possible.  However, since I do not have a vehicle to get to the Post Office, all shipments will go out the day AFTER they are paid for rather than the same day like they always have.  We apologize for the inconvenience, but there is nothing we can do about it since we do not have the money to purchase another car.  We will be filing a claim with FEMA and hopefully will get a couple hundred to maybe buy a beater from me for now.  We will be addressing all emails and shipments started tomorrow morning.  I would do it now, but after the crappy day that I have had (I've had that car for years and she always ran strong even at 180K miles), I have a very bad headache so I am going to take a hot shower, have a glass of wine and go to bed.  Thank you for your patience and understanding during this natural disaster.

9/25/04 - 1:30pm EST - Within the next hour or two, we expect to lose power.  The first of the feeder bands are making their way over us as I type this.  Jeanne is going to bring strong category 3 winds (111-130 mph) to our area within the next several hours.  She is moving quickly (14 mph) so we will be out of it by tomorrow morning sometime.  BUT, remember, power can be lost for several weeks at a time with the kind of destruction a hurricane like this can cause.  This will be the last entry until after the storm passes.  We are packing up the computers and hiding them away in a closest to attempt to protect them.  As soon as we have power and internet back, I will update this page and attempt to address all your emails.  Please be patient as it may be quite some time before we can respond.  Rest assured that your emails, orders and payments will be received and we will continue business as usual as soon as possible.  Thanks for your patience.

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9/24/04 - Latest scoop...  Jeanne is heading directly toward us.  BUT, they are predicting that she will take a last minute turn North just before the really bad stuff comes ashore.  I don't believe them.  There is a High Pressure front keeping it in line for us and they think it will dissipate just in time to let Jeanne turn North but I feel like that will not happen.  So, we are preparing for the worst.
As of 8:30am EST 9/24/04, all packages have been shipped and all emails have been addressed.  Expect delays over the next day or two as we are away from the office to make preparations and take care of our family.  We will respond to emails as we find the time for as long as we can.  I've said it before, but I have to say it again... If we lose power and/or internet, it may be several days or even weeks before service is restored and we are able to respond to you.  Please be patient while Mother Nature does her thing.

9/23/04 - Well, we thought that we were going to be free of Jeanne.  But, for the last ten days, she has been sitting out there brewing and doing loop-d-loops.  So, once again, we are in her sights.  You can see from the map above where we are located.  Here is the satellite image and the forecast path.  These images are updated automatically as new information is available so they will be current even if we are unable to update them.  As you can see, we are gonna get wet at the very least.  Stay tuned here for updates as available and we are able to make.  It looks like we will start to feel some of Jeanne's effects Saturday evening.  As I have said over and over... if we do get this storm (and we will), we will most likely lose power, phone and internet connection.  We where out for five days when Hurricane Frances came through and we were the lucky ones.  There are still people, three weeks later, with no power.  So, if we do not get back to you, it is because we are unable to.  Rest assured that we will return to our normal business as soon as is humanly possible.

Let us not forget about Lisa.  She is out there and may be headed this way.  It is too early to tell exactly where she will go, but we are watching that one too.  DAMN I HATE FLORIDA!

Also, as an interesting point... Ivan that missed us a week ago, DEVASTATED the Golf Coast.  Our thoughts are with those affected.  Now, after Ivan traveled up the Eastern Seaboard, looped back around (after losing its Hurricane and Tropical Storm status), SOAKED us with 8" of rain early this week, is now back out in the Gulf of Mexico and has regenerated into Tropical Storm Ivan and is going to pummel  the Gulf Coast again. DIE IVAN DIE!!!

9/14/04 - This is getting TOTALLY ridiculous!  Hurricane Jeanne is out there and we are in the projected path once again.  Four hurricanes in a month that we have had to worry about.  My nerves are shot.  We are moving as soon as our lease is up.  Stay tuned here for more information and updates as it is available.

9/14/04 - OK.... we are in the clear and are no longer expected to get Hurricane Ivan.  We are experiencing some of the effects from him today, but it is nothing major.  Just a typical Florida thunderstorm.  It is heading North though the Gulf of Mexico and is beating the snot out of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula.  Projected landfall is somewhere in the Florida panhandle or Louisiana and, as a Category 5 and the sixth strongest Hurricane on record, our thoughts are with those in Ivan's path.
Our eyes now turn to TD-11.  For those of you not familiar with Florida-speak... TD is a Tropical Depression (big rain storm).  Tropical Depressions turn to Tropical Storms (winds from 45-73 mph) which turn into Hurricanes.  TD-11 is forecast to turn into TS Jeanne later today so we are still on alert.  Damn I hate Florida.  TS-11 is currently near Antigua and headed toward Puerto Rico.  As usual, keep checking here for updates.

9/10/04- Although Ivan is projected to head into the Gulf of Mexico and skirt the West coast of Florida, we are still keeping a very close eye on him.  At this point, we are not taking any drastic actions to prepare (we are still mostly prepared since we just got hit with Frances) and we do not have any plans to close.  That may all change in the next day or two as Ivan's path becomes more clear.  Please keep checking back here for updated information as it is available and as we are able to post it.  We are still experiencing intermittent power and internet loss as part of the aftermath of Frances so we are out of touch for short periods from time to time.

9/9/04  - Here we go again.  Hurricane Ivan is the one that we are watching now.  He is on the way to Southern Florida.  We are on the East Coast which is not in the direct path, but that can change at any time and we may be slammed again.  This time, we are looking at a Category 5 (instead of 2 that Frances was when she came trough).  What does this mean?  This means that we may, once again, be shut down and unable to respond to your emails and ship your items for several days or so.  It also means that we may not have a home after it is all done.  A category 5 is the strongest that they come and we are expecting it to get even stronger than the 160 mph winds that it has now.  We are scared again and even more so, not just because it is stronger, but also because we have not yet recovered from Frances.  There are still trees down all over and where we live, we cannot walk 10 feet without having to step over part of one.  These downed trees and braches will become projectiles in the winds of Ivan and will cause even more devastation than it would otherwise.  Also, there are still thousands of people in our area without electricity or water.  There are no supplies, such as batteries, water and ice, available yet.  And even if there was, it would not so us any good.  My husband has been out of work for a week and since we had to shut the business down, it didn't make any money, so we are flat broke. 

Keep an eye on this page for more information and updates as available.  If we lose power or internet again, we will be unable to respond to you but will do our best to get back up and running as normal as quickly as possible.

9/9/04 - All emails have been responded to.  Feedback has been left for those that have left it for us.  If we have missed anyone, please email us.

9/7/04 - 10:00 pm EST - Well, Hurricane Frances SUCKED!!!!  She was mean, nasty and REALLY slow.  I do not want to waste too much time right now going into details as we have 124 emails to respond to.  But, in brief, we are safe and the only damage we have is some water on the carpeting and soaked into the drywall (boy does that ever smell nice after sitting in the heat for four days).  We lost power Friday around noon and it was finally restored at about 4pm EST today, Tuesday.  Needless to say we were very happy to have back the A/C and refrigerator (which is empty except for some water and pop since it all spoiled).  Unfortunately, we did not have any internet connection until just now... 10pm EST.  so, I have downloaded all 124 emails from the server and will be responding to them as quickly as possible.  We are back up and running (at least until Ivan comes through) and will return to our quick response and turnaround times right away.  If you do not receive a response to your email within 24 hours of now (by 10pm EST Wednesday), please resend the email as we may have missed it or did not receive it.  Also, for our wonderful eBay customers.. if you have left feedback for us in the last week and we have not reciprocated, we will be doing that in the next 24 hours as well.  Please send an email with the eBay User ID and item number if we have not done so after that time so we can correct the oversight.  I will post more details of how much it sucked to live through a category 2 hurricane once we get caught up on the emails and shipping.  Thank you for your patience and thanks to all of those that kept us in your thoughts and prayers.

9/7 - Just a quick note. We do not have power or phone at our location. Although we did not sustain any damage, we are living as if we were camping. We do have quite a bit o water on the carpet but did not lose any possessions. I am entering this from my sisters house but I am unable to retrieve any emails or conduct regular business at this time. The power company has said that they cannot even tell me until Thursday night when we might have power back. So, I am not expecting it until at least this weekend. almost every tree was blown over and downed all the power lines and they are supposedly working as quickly as they can to restore the service. Again, I apologize for this delay, but there is nothing that I can do about it. If I know that we will be out of power for longer than a few more days, I will attempt to find an alternative office for the time being. Where I am now is not a good option as this is a dial-up connection which is not fast enough to support our business programs. Thanks to all of you who had kept us in your thoughts and prayers. As I said before, we are safe, just terribly hot and uncomfortable and hungry as we are not able to cook much.

9/3/04 - Hurricane Frances (which is the size if Texas) has slowed down considerably to 9 miles an hour, delaying the inevitable.  We are now expected to have Tropical Storm and Hurricane force winds for approximately 36 hours straight starting later this evening.  The feeder bands of the hurricane have already started to come ashore causing major storms.  We are expected to experience larger, more intense squalls within a couple of hours.  Once those move ashore (we are only about 8 miles from the coast), we anticipate 48 hours of rain and wind.
We are hunkered down in our meager apartment (which the leasing company didn't feel it necessary to board up) and will not be leaving until the storm has passed.  One bedroom window has been secured as much as we are capable of.  Being on the second floor, we were unable to board up on the outside so we crammed a piece of plywood between the ceiling and floor against the window and braced it with our bed.  Later this afternoon we will secure our pets in a bathroom.  When the weather begins to deteriorate, we will secure ourselves in the bedroom and an interior hallway.  We DO expect major damage to our belongings due to rain through broken windows (they ARE going to break since they are unprotected).
As is stated in the entries below.  We are not conducting any business until Frances and passed.  We will return to operation as soon as is humanly possible.  Please be patient and keep your fingers crossed for our safety.

9/2/04 -  The path has changed and is due to hit us fairly directly.  We are very worried about this one and are making preparations.  Be advised that it may be a long time before we are to respond to your emails and return to business.

9/1/04 -  HURRICANE FRANCES WILL AFFECT DARK ANGEL DESIGNS!  If you have been watching the news, you no doubt are aware of Hurricane Frances.  It is headed for South East Florida and will start to affect us early Friday.  We ARE in the path and are very, VERY close to the projected landfall of the eye.  We will, unfortunately, experience a force of Nature such as has not been seen in this part of Florida since 1947.
On Thursday, we will be working until approximately 10am EST and will ship out all items paid for up to that time.  We will NOT be shipping Friday at all.  We are closing our office and packing up our computers Thursday afternoon and will be unable to respond to emails after that point.  We need this time to make final preparations and secure our family.  We will resume normal operations as soon as possible, but keep in mind that this is a major hurricane and may cause massive destruction in our immediate area which may make it impossible for us to respond in a timely manner.  Rest assured that we WILL return to business as long as a breath remains in me and we will do so as quickly as possible.
If you would like to know where we are, we are in Boynton Beach which is about 15-20 miles south of West Palm Beach.  The coordinates for the center of the city are 26.5215N Lat 80.1725W Long.
We will post more information here as possible.  Thank you for your patience.

8/30/04 PLEASE NOTE!  WE ARE IN THE PATH OF HURRICANE FRANCES.
Although we still do not know for sure where this massive storm is going to make landfall, all signs indicate that we will feel some MAJOR effects from it.  We are worried about this one and are in the process of taking all the necessary precautions.  Please bear with us for any delays in shipping or responding to emails.  Keep checking back here for updates, as available and as possible.  After Hurricane Charley hit the west coast of Florida over two weeks ago, there are still thousands of people without power so it is possible that we may experience the same misfortune.  We will do out best to maintain contact will everyone and to keep our business up and running as usual.