Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Hurricane Rita / Hurricane Andrew (now/then)

Look out! It's headed right for Key West!

Okay, now calm down. It's, what did they say, the 12th hurricane in 14 months, something like that. If it isn't routine by now, it never will be.

In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew, a very large and strong storm, looked like it was surely going to hit Key West. At the time we were living there, not in a mobile home (this is like that Monty Python skit again: no! a mobile home would have been heaven to us!)--we lived in a 30-foot Airstream trailer. We called it our "land yacht." Our daughter's 5th birthday party was planned for August 24. On the 23rd, I called all the guests to tell them the party would have to be postponed due to weather. We spent the night at a shelter, and I was worried. I was awake most of the night, waiting for something to happen. There was not a gust of wind, not a drop of rain. Nothing. The following Saturday, we had the party and a good time was had by all, and we listened to everybody's hurricane stories. One family had done the sensible thing, they evacuated. They took refuge with friends in Miami--in Kendall. That is where Andrew went, too. The house they were staying in lost its roof. A tree limb fell on their car and broke the windshield. Make up your own moral here; I'm not offering any. To me, it's just weather, not the wrath of God.

Here's a webcam from downtown Miami.

1 comment:

Read/Think/Live said...

Sure, Jeremy, or maybe a dragonfly flapped its wings in Sri Lanka, and set off a chain of events that resulted in the hurricane that blew over my neighbors'tree. Just because we don't understand something doesn't mean we have to make up a story for it. That does seem to be in our genes, though.