As if an almost nationwide blackout and the second anniversary of September 11th was not enough to throw a monkey wrench in this country's operations, now we are about to feel the wrath of a monstrous swirling hurricane known affectionately as Isabel.

At its peak, Isabel was a Category Five hurricane with winds in excess of almost 200 miles an hour and was so large it was visible from space. Now, it has "scaled back" to a Category Two hurricane with winds reaching 130 miles an hour. Its current position is 400 miles South East of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and is expected to hit land as early as tomorrow morning. So far, over 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes, and millions more are stocking up on supplies such as flashlights, batteries - and emergency generators.

Here in good ol' NYC, we are re-activating the OEM Command Center - a place I know all to well. We are also ordering that construction crews tie down their equipment, that citizens prepare a "Go Bag" containing priority items if they have to leave at a moment's notice - and getting ready to evacuate citizens living in coastal areas if it becomes necessary.

Isn't it amazing that, despite how "far advanced" the human race is, that Mother Nature continues to prove that She is the true, dominant species over us? No matter our technological advances, sociological abilities and human endurance - Mother Nature can still turn our world upside down? All it takes is a hurricane, or even the threat of a hurricane to make everyone go into "uh-oh" mode and prepare for the worst. But this hurricane is no threat - it is very, very real.

I remember previous hurricanes like Hurricane Floyd back in September,1999 that did hundreds of millions of dollars in damage - and Hurricane Andrew back in August, 1992 that caused an unbelievable $25 billion dollars in damage nationwide - making Andrew the most expensive natural disaster in United States history. With Isabel steadily approaching the mainland, there is no telling how strong the hurricane will become - or how bad the damage will be.

So with twenty-four hours left until Isabel pays the East Coast of the United States a visit. We can do nothing but wait, prepare - and hope.