Greater Brandon's Run With Isaac

With skies darkening at the late-morning hour, and a vantage point from a McDonald’s on State Road 60, it appears that for a lot of Greater Brandon area residents, today was a day for staying home.

While it’s business as usual for some residents, it appears that many people decided to take heed and stay home, as evidenced by roadway traffic throughout the early morning hours and the parking lots at area businesses and shopping centers.

Playing into those empty lots was the tropical storm warning that was in effect and the leading up the inclement weather promised by a close call with Tropical Storm Isaac.

Photos snapped this morning in the Greater Brandon area show empty parking lots at the Brandon Regional Library and Brandon High School. The Hillsborough County public library and public school system are among the many announced closings.

With flood alerts throughout the Tampa Bay area, there are some spots to keep an especially keen eye on in the Greater Brandon area, despite the fact that Greater Brandon is filled with neighborhoods people typically evacuate “to” and not “from.”

One such area is along the Alafia River, where early this morning, off Lithia Pinecrest Road, across the street from the River Hills community, standing water along the roads and even in the roads was a modest indication that the overnight rains were heavy.

As people living here in the tropics know, it’s never a good time to put your guard down when there’s an active system in the Gulf. Nevertheless, it appears that Isaac’s impact close to home will be along the lines of a really bad storm, but not as bad as sometimes occurs on a day’s notice.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and wish well for those who will bear a greater burden with the advancing winds and rains of Isaac.

Should you have anything to report, or to post and share with your neighbors, please do so in the comment box below. Or, email Brandon Patch editor Linda Chion Kenney at Linda.chion@patch.com. Call: 813-390-4952.

And feel free to add your photos to the collection posted here.

Stay attentive, and stay safe. Warnings are to be heeded.