Like soldiers at rest, the portable basketball backboards normally seen standing at attention in driveways and sidewalks were laid on their sides. People in Mount Vernon heeded the warnings of the impending hurricane and spent most of Wednesday and Thursday moving their lawn furniture and garden gnomes inside or securing them.
People scurried to the stores to stock up on water and batteries; most shelves had no water or milk by Thursday afternoon. Gene Laporta, buyer for Village Hardware in Hollin Hills Shopping Center, said that Thursday was the busiest day of sales they've ever had.
Local boat owners traveled as far as the Northern Neck to pull their boats out of marinas to either tote them home or secure them in other areas.
George Stevens, owner of Belle Haven Marina, asked all of his boat tenants to move their boats, and for those who couldn't get there in time, he moved their boats for them. Just about every boat was evacuated from the marina. Bigger boats were moved to other marinas, while many of the smaller boats were moved to the parking area behind Belle View Shopping Center. The sailing boats were moved to a caged area next to Pat's Market, across from the Belle Haven Country Club.
Overall, it took him 3 1/2 days to move boats and remove items from the office.