Friday Fragments: The Hurricane Edition

I'm still having trouble thinking in essay form.  I'm having trouble sleeping past 2 a.m.  Is it the disruption of summer vacation coming to an end?  The reorganization plans announced at work?  The tropical storm to our south? 

Whatever the reason, today's blog post will be a collection of thoughts with a hurricane theme.

--Twenty years ago today, hurricane Andrew roared onshore.  I remember seeing the pictures and thinking about the destructive capacity of hurricanes.  We'd recently seen similar pictures from hurricane Hugo, and I wondered what new phase of weather we'd entered.

--Little did I know that we were enjoying the end of the Holocene era, along with the end of one of the few eras of stable climate the earth has enjoyed.

--If we're lucky, this tropical storm Isaac will dump some rain on Georgia, which is one of the areas of the U.S. suffering extreme drought. 

--Why am I hoping for rain for Georgia?  I'm worried about both the peanut crop and the pecan crop.  We're not big peanut butter eaters, but I'm tempted to stockpile peanut butter.

--Peanut butter is a staple of our hurricane supplies. 

--Is it time to start thinking about supplies?  Not yet.  The main thing we'd need to do is to fill up as many water containers as possible.

--Hurricanes make me realize how vulnerable our various infrastructures are.  Even if you bury water pipes and electric lines underground, they're still disruptable.  Trees topple, and we realize how far their roots have extended as they take the water pipes above ground with them.  Underground electric lines are vulnerable to flooding, and we get flooding here during our normal torrential rains.

--My spouse and I watched national coverage of Isaac on a weather channel.  The forecaster talked about evacuating the Keys.  My spouse and I laughed.  Those Keys folks never leave.

--Of course, we don't either.  When the warnings go up, out of town friends call to see if we've left.  I say, "I'd rather ride out the storm in my house than on I 95."  It's over 5 hours before we get to the mainland.  Evacuating is not possible.

--Shelter in place:  those words have come to be freighted with all sorts of meaning for me.