Hurricanes

Whee! Hurricane season is approaching, once again. For those of you who live in land-locked areas, let me tell you that hurricanes are no laughing matter. Imagine the worst thunderstorm with torrential rain that you have ever experienced, and now imagine it going on for 12 consecutive hours.

As a little boy living in Guam, I can remember the island being struck by Typhoon Pamela in 1976. This freakin' thing passed right over the island with winds in excess of 160 MPH. I lived in base housing at the time. Our house was made of cement and cinder blocks. From my front yard you could see some cliffs and the ocean about 2 or 3 miles away (I'm using the memory of a six-year-old!). I remember seeing the waves crashing onto the rocks at the cliffs and splashing hundreds of feet into the air just before my father boarded the windows shut. Pamela beat the hell out of the island. I remember a washer and dryer being the only things left standing at a house down the street. Mom said we didn't have power for over a month.

So we moved to Kansas City. No hurricanes here. Nope, here I was introduced to tornados. Watched one of the damned things go over the house! That particular one touched down several miles away and severely damaged a junior high school. I also got to experience an honest-to-God blizzard.

So we moved to coastal North Carolina. Yup, still get tornados, but now I learn that NC is #2 in the country for lightning strikes! I lived through the 80's and early 90's without giving hurricanes much thought. We had some near misses, and a few glancing blows, but nothing to really worry about. Then came 1996...

I was working when Hurricane Bertha hit in 1996. I can remember the idiots still driving around town when the winds were approaching 100MPH. I was sitting on a bridge to prevent traffic from hitting some downed power lines when I saw a bicyclist come literally flying by. He was holding open his windbreaker like a sail and using the wind to push him along at a speed of like 45MPH.

I was working when Hurricane Fran hit in 1996.
I was working when Hurricane Bonnie hit in 1998.
I was working in 1999 when Hurricane Dennis gave us a glancing blow before sitting off the coast for a week drenching us.
Then came Hurricane Floyd, about a two weeks behind Dennis. Floyd devasted Eastern NC. (Yup, I was working).
In 2002 I watched Hurricane Kyle screw with us.
In 2003 Hurricane Isabel stomped the area pretty good.
In 2004 Hurricane Ivan bitch-slapped us. Needless to say, my county is one of the best-prepared counties in the country!

2004 was also the year that Florida was pounded by 4 major hurricanes. I felt sorry for the people in Florida. I knew how those folks felt. I know the feeling of helplessness and futility. I know the fear. But...

I'm hoping that Florida gets it again this year. The more hurricanes hit Florida, the less that make it to NC.