Thanks everyone for your concern. After much analyzing of weather forecasts we left WDW at 5 am today. I know that "driving as fast as possible" sounds irresponsible and that was not what I meant. 2 of us shared the driving and going at the speed limit or a few miles above (70-75 mph along most of I-95) with as few stops as possible (which was what I meant by "as fast as possible") have made it to Northern VA. Usually we like to take our time on the drive with plenty of rest stops, but not today.
There were occasional strong winds in SC and some wind and showers in NC but no real signs of Irene further up. We were planning to turn inland when we hit NC and head for I-81 but I-95 was surprisingly clear with no traffic or signs of evacuation disruptions so we just kept going.
We plan to resume our drive at 4 am which means we'll be home to batten down the hatches before NY feels the effects. According to local weather forecasts northern VA will start getting heavy rain and wind by noon and we'll be gone by then. If conditions deteriorate much earlier than predicted we'll stop at relatives in central MD or western NJ and ride out the storm with them.
There were occasional strong winds in SC and some wind and showers in NC but no real signs of Irene further up. We were planning to turn inland when we hit NC and head for I-81 but I-95 was surprisingly clear with no traffic or signs of evacuation disruptions so we just kept going.
We plan to resume our drive at 4 am which means we'll be home to batten down the hatches before NY feels the effects. According to local weather forecasts northern VA will start getting heavy rain and wind by noon and we'll be gone by then. If conditions deteriorate much earlier than predicted we'll stop at relatives in central MD or western NJ and ride out the storm with them.
