Six Months of High Anxiety
And so it begins, six months of high anxiety. Today being June first and the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season. Predictions are swirling. How many named storms and how many big storms will there be? That’s not important if you live in striking distance because the only one you worry about is the one that heads your way.
This is the time of year when we watch the weather channel as much if not more than the local news. This is the time of year when we keep a physical as well as a mental list of what we have and what we need. Most of us keep tins of tuna and soup and other non-perishables. Bottled water, dog and cat food and extra cat litter must be kept on hand at all times along with loaves of frozen bread and extra bags of ice. The list goes on and on.
Some of us have finally been able to repair all the damages inflicted on our homes in the past two years by hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and last year’s Wilma. Others haven’t been so fortunate and even to this day have giant blue tarps as their roof’s only defense. Those people have got to be panicking about now. Blue plastic tarps are no challenge to winds of over 75mph.
Now the wait begins along with the dread. Who gets hit and how hard? We all know it’s going to happen somewhere, but where? It’s about the equivalent of hearing that one house in your neighborhood will be hit by a meteor in the next six months, but no one knows which house or how large a meteor it will be.
posted by pissed off patricia at 4:42 AM
17 Comments:
POP,
I just hope this will be a mild season. There aren't a lot of signs that whatever went wrong last year got fixed.
Good luck with that. I don't think I could handle the stress and uncertainty of that situation too well. Let's hope Mother Nature is good to you this year.
Don't envy you the wait or the worry.
*WHEW* I know how you feel, we occasionally get them up here, and then there's the winter with the snow season..
At least if it was a meteor, the poor person who lost their home could sell it. $$$
Plenty of room here in up-state New York. You can leave your sand bags behind, just pick up a snow shovel on the way.
PoP...I pray that you and your family stay safe. Here in NH we have to worry about snow and the occasional ice storm that can knock out the electricity. I can only imagine what it must feel like to worry if your house will be standing after a storm.
Same here - watching, waiting, organizing and planning hoping it will be enough and on time. Meantime, live for the moment seems like a good plan.
The government could fix it--if they weren't spending all the money somewhere else.
Here's hoping for a quiet summer for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
I wish you well. I spent almost 10 years in tornado alley. We had the t.v. on almost 24/7 for the weather alerts.
Don't worry, the Government is really ready this time. Really really ready is what I heard. Really.
Hope all storms blow by and not through.
Peace.
You'd think there'd be more preperations made down there since there's a Bush in office, and oil nearby. . .
Seriously, POP, we'll all be thinking happy thoughts for you throughout this season.
Did y'all get a new wall like Nawlins did???
Stay safe ^j^
Take care...in my book it takes strength to remain in a place that every year (almost relentlessly) has to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous weather. I'd have to leave...I'm just used to earthquakes and I trully would take one any day to what you guys have to go through.
On the bright side, I now know how to make a good pot of coffee on a charcoal grill and how to operate a chain saw. I've rediscovered the joys of Chef Boyardee straight from the can. And I know now that what my grandparents told me is true -- it's entirely possible to survive in Florida without air conditioning in the summer.
Well PoP.....I guess there is some comparrison to the tornado. Some are seen way up here in the Northcountry, but nothing like the devastaion you've had to endure when a hurricane strikes shore.
Now, the mosquitoes, that's a different story! Did I tell you they are as big as 747's?
My prayers are for a mild season and safety for all.
I watched a weatherman on CNN do a story on Hurricane Preparedness this week..and it was nicely organized and well thought out....but I still kept wondering if AXES should be part of the kit....and we all know they should...cause not alot is fixed after last year...and definently not enough...
There are ways to build buildings that have a much greater chance to withstand hurricanes without hardly any more cost. There are of course also buildings who can withstand any hurricane, of course with much greater cost. There must be found a middle way.
But no, after each devastation the people come back like ants, populate again vast trailer parks, rebuild the same crappy pre-fab homes, take out insurance if they can afford it, flee when an other storm comes - and then repeat the whole story over and over again.
I don't know, but some of us never learn.
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