Please don’t misunderstand the intent of this post, I am by no means discounting the severity of hurricanes. We have all seen the destruction that storms like Katrina and Andrew can cause. With that said, there is not another natural disaster that comes with quite as effective of a built in escape clause. Tornados, Earthquakes, and the like give no warning, they are on you in a heartbeat. Hurricanes, on the other hand, give you at least a week to board up the windows, stock canned goods, go to the liquor store, work yourself into a false panic, hunker down, and generally be well prepared for the absolute worst. This is both a blessing and curse. Because of the damage wreaked by the afore mentioned storms, every time there is a “Tropical Event” in the Caribbean or the Gulf people around here start evacuating the trailer parks, closing the schools, and heading to Home Depot to stock up on a bunch of over priced merchandise they’ll never end up using. Case in point would be the Fair Lady Fay blowing through our fine state this morning. Schools in 7 surrounding counties are closed today for a storm that never even reached hurricane status and thus far has left the hardest hit areas with some palm fronds down in the streets and a few traffic lights out. By this afternoon, as the storm meanders its way northward, we will be experiencing some winds and rain with slightly more kick to them than what we get every other afternoon during the summer in this sub-tropical climate that we have chosen to live in. Like most native Floridians, my home is at all times stocked with the necessities for riding out this type of storm: A flashlight, a few cans of Spaghetti-O’s, and a bottle of liquor. I think we’ll all be just fine.
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