A Note About Hurricane Matthew and The Mane Land

Hello, Mane Landers! With a powerful storm bearing down on the Sunshine State, it looks like we’ve got about the best weekend for a bye in the short MLS history of Orlando City SC. Thankfully there is no home game to postpone or move, and there is no road match that many of us will be unable to see should our cable or electricity go out in the next 24-48 hours.

As Hurricane Matthew makes its way north, I first want to wish all of you the best of luck. Mother Nature is not a force to be trifled with, so we hope that everyone takes the mindset to err on the side of caution rather than take unnecessary risks. The weather is undefeated and should never be challenged.

I also wanted to drop a note regarding The Mane Land, not only for those who read us throughout the Central Florida area, but also beyond. Many of our writers will be within reach of the storm. Most of us are concentrated inland, although we could still find ourselves without power, internet, and/or cell service soon. Some of our staff members live in the more threatened areas along the Atlantic coast.

When The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore is preparing to broadcast about the storm from the city where one of your writers lives, you definitely take notice.

The safety of the TML staff is obviously of paramount importance to me. I urge all of our staff to take appropriate precautions, including – should they deem it necessary – evacuation. However, as a website, we will strive to continue to function as normally as possible over the coming days.

I will personally do everything in my power (provided I have power and either the internet or cell service, or both) to maintain the site’s schedule of features with whatever breaking news we can cover over the span of the storm’s passing and beyond. However, please be aware that the site could potentially go without updates for an indeterminate period if the storm is particularly destructive and leaves us without power/internet. This may be unavoidable, but we will do everything we can to avoid it.

I will try to provide updates from The Mane Land Twitter account (@TheManeLand) periodically to let people know that we’re OK as I get reports from our staff, and what the status of stories will be over the weekend – and potentially beyond. We hope the storm isn’t too disruptive to our daily functions but…this is a blog and is infinitely less important than real life. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we’ll do what we have to do and get back to normal as quickly as we can.

Hopefully I’ll be able to look back on this post in a few days and laugh about having written it.

But this is a two-way community, so enough about us. Where are you located in relation to the storm’s path? What are you doing to prepare for the hurricane? Are you getting out of harm’s way, or are you staying put? How are you planning to pass the time? Let us know what you’re up to in the comments section below and keep us updated on how the weather is affecting your area.

Stay safe, Lion Nation.