Rita Update: T-Minus... I Don't Know

Winds are starting to pick up around here. It's about 1pm central time and I'm not quite sure how much longer until I start seeing some rain and the real strong gusts. At last look it appears that the worst I'm going to see is 70 mph winds and a couple of inches of rain. That's if nothing drastic happens to the forecast and Rita suddenly takes a jump to the west. From looking at all of the forecast funnels that show where the eye could pass my area is no longer within that range. Half of Houston isn't even in it.
Last night I spent an hour trying to cover everything that I thought could incur water damage, mostly electronic equipment, and stashed all the small things into drawers. The only thing left is the computer and I'm leaving that out as long as the power is on. There is nothing to do around here but sit and wait for the storm, so this is my only way to pass the time.
I believe that out of all of the natural disasters that I can think of, hurricanes have to be the worst to endure. We've known about Rita for a week now and even if you evacuated and are clear from any danger, your home and most of your belongings are still threatened. You've had time to prepare for the worst but its the unknown that keeps you on edge. Not knowing whether or not your house made it out with minimal damage, if you're not hunkered down in it, or where the storm is headed if you're in a closet waiting for it to pass with no electricity. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other storms or one of Mother Nature's little hissy fits that give you that time for preparation. Everything else seems to be a spur of the moment, "Holy shit! Get to cover!" kind of thing. Before this the worst thing I've lived through was a strong thunderstorm. Even then I just sat at a window and watched it all go by. I don't think I'm going to do that this time around for fear of shards of glass being shot through my pupils.
I'm not too worried about the wind and rain anymore, it's just the uncertainty. And the loss of power for an unknown amount of time. That's just going to suck.