Here is a note from Sam Lewis with more details about their situation waiting out the storm in South Carolina:
 We are safe in Greenville, South Carolina which is almost 200 miles inland.  The storm is just north of Charleston so has not passed our home in Pawleys Island. So far there has been 8-10 inches of rain and high winds. More rain is expected.  It is not likely we will be allowed to return to see our home ( roughly 2 miles from  beach) until Monday. Don't know what to expect, but flooding, tree damage and power outages are likely.

I can only imagine the anxiety for Sam and Judy.  Wherever you choose to live, there are trade-offs, I think.  We will be anxious to know how Pawleys Island and their home fared in the storm, and I'll post any information from them and any others who get in touch as they weather the hurricane.

We finally had a short shower earlier this afternoon.  It wet things down, but really only brought out the beautiful foliage colors more without actually doing much good to the ground.  We have had a serious dry spell in some parts of the state, and although it doesn't seem too bad here at Joe's Pond, the overall water table needs to be replenished.  We didn't have as much snow last year as we normally do, and not much rain all summer, so if we don't get some real rainy weather, we could have some water shortages going on.  It's ironic that a few hundred miles south of us there's altogether too much water falling from the sky.  We can't place an order from a big weather menu, so all we can do is hope for the best.