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NORTH BEACH, Md. - North Beach, Md., is no stranger to flooding. The Calvert County community was hit hard by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, and now residents there are waiting to see what the winds and rains of this nor'easter will bring.

North Beach remains under a coastal flood warning and wind advisory -- but locals who've weathered decades of storms before this one say they'll cozy up with comfort food and let Mother Nature do her thing.

Waves licked the landscape and blasted the boardwalk along North Beach. "It's cranking up; it's going to be a pretty good one by the time it's all said and done," said Lee Shoemaker, a North Beach resident. "I think this is just the beginning."

Locals say the intersection of 5th Street and Bay Avenue is ground zero for flooding, with water already standing about six inches deep. But several area shopkeepers don't seem too concerned.

"We feel pretty safe," said Jeff Bradshaw of the Lighthouse Marketplace.

"I do have sandbags and plastic, but I think this time we won't need to use it thank goodness," added Susan Dzurec of Sweet Sue's Bakery.

Most locals survived recent hurricanes, so to them, the driving rain and sodden shores just mean fewer customers. "It's a little bit slow, but people are coming in to get out of the wind," said Dzurec.

Over at the Bay Healing Art Center, the doorbell's remained silent all day long. "It's windy. I see the bay's really choppy, but I don't see flooding which I'm really surprised at," said Joyce Baker, a North Beach resident.

Next door at Willetta's Antiques, Willetta is praying she won't wake up to a flood. "We went under in Isabel," she said.

She says two-and-a-half feet of water swallowed her antiques and took more than a month to clean up. "Last time we had sandbagged; we had done everything. I took everything upholstered out of here, and picked up things and it did no good," she said.

Willetta survived the wreckage once and hopes she never has to again. "Just pray," she said. "Not much else we can do."

The standing water in the intersection did seem to rise by an inch or two Thursday afternoon. The locals noted that's typical of a major storm like this one, but most of them said they'll be paying close attention to the weather forecasts throughout the night.

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