Ernesto Leaves Thousands in the Dark

"Chilling at Starbucks," Cochrane said.

Few of yesterday's other latte-seekers seemed worried about their homes becoming flooded. Katie Jacoby, 30, of Manassas said she thought it was "nice out" and that she welcomed the storms after a hot, dry August.

"My plants are happy," she said, "and if my plants are happy, I'm happy."

As for those at the their weekend destination, there was nothing to do but cope.

In Ocean City, a few plastic-wrapped visitors bent into the wind to see what a tropical storm felt like. A couple in a sport-utility vehicle watched through the windshield, shaking their heads and snapping pictures of the wild sea. Cars created breakers of a different sort along the coastal highway as they whacked large pools of standing water, and some played dodge ball with garbage cans and milk crates that skittered across the road.

At a Sunsations store, Stephanie Resser and her brother killed time shopping. They were leaving early, chased away from an annual family gathering by the weather and car troubles. "I'm still going to have to pay for a tanning bed when I get home," said Resser, who lives in Shiremanstown, Pa.

The malls, roads and hotels seemed vacant. But business thrived at the movie theater, where manager Andrew Seyler called it the "busiest day for the past couple weeks."

The Liquor Mart also fared well.

"For this period of the day, it's pretty steady," Cristina Camaras, 26, a Romanian student who came to Ocean City to work for the summer.

"The bars will be packed today -- stay in, watch TV and drink all day," a patron interjected before heading out the door with a bottle of Appletini mix and a bottle of Jagermesiter.

Staff writers Fredrick Kunkle, Nick Miroff, Robert Samuels, Paul Schwarzman and William Wan contributed to this report.