Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

Trying to reason with hurricane season

Here's what the National Weather Service is saying about Hurricane Isabel:

...PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
PERSONS LOCATED IN AND NEAR THE POSTED HURRICANE WATCH AREA SHOULD
PREPARE FOR HIGH WINDS AND SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING. PEOPLE
INLAND SHOULD PREPARE FOR STRONG WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...AND POTENTIAL
SMALL STREAM AND RIVER FLOODING.

Here is what the people in my office are saying:
"Are we gonna close Thursday and Friday?"

I'm in the safety department, so people like to call me to complain about strange smells, people speeding in the garage, and, any time the weather is bad, the fact that we are willing to risk people's lives! by making them come to work.

The thing that gets me is that so many of my cow-orkers seem to be focusing on getting a day off, not the potential destruction and loss. I pointed out to one that we have a shelter-in-place plan for just such emergencies, and since the storm was likely to start on Thursday during the day, she might want to review those procedures. She gave me a very dirty look and told me she had no intention of staying at work no matter what was going on outside.

I am not freaking about Isabel, but I have learned to take weather emergencies seriously. It is probably just maturity. Tonight I'll make sure that the flashlights and batteries are accessible and put all the garden tools in the shed, maybe even rearrange the furniture a bit in case we need to bring in the grills. Not freaking, just being prudent.

The only hurricane of real significance I've experienced was Andrew. Except for 1992, I've been here around DC, where for the most part our weather is pretty good. (I'm too young to remember Camille and Agnes.) Anyway, in 1992 I was living on the Gulf coast. Andrew hadn't hit south Florida yet but was on the radar. I stopped at a convenience store on my way to work and noticed that flashlights, batteries, and water were already sold out. At the office I commented that back at home, people went nuts for milk and bread when we had snow forecasts.

My boss asked if my "hurricane kit" was ready. I didn't know what he was talking about. I had a chart from Winn Dixie that had a little hurricane symbol sticker and a map, but no"kit."

He asked if I knew my evacaution route. Yeah, I said, west to 95 then north to my parents' house.

I hadn't paid too much attention to preparing for hurricane season because I didn't live on the beach. I was several miles in, not on a canal, what did I need to worry about?

Then the guys in the office started telling me about all the past damage from previous storms, including, they said, the store that used to be right where my apartment was until it had the roof ripped off by Camille in '69.

I think they might have been bs'ing me there, but it kinda got my attention. Then watching Homestead on CNN really got my attention. When Andrew did come up the Gulf of Mexico it hit west of where I lived, but I had my hurricane kit ready. I kept it ready 'til I moved home.

I'm more lax at home now, which is funny since I have to check the emergency supplies and conduct the drills and always be ready at work. But I have canned food (and the manual can opener...I love hearing that little "by the way" on the news. Duh. But I can't stand electric can openers anyway, so I don't even own one.) and plenty of water, flashlights and a radio.

Now I'm going to go batten down the hatches and hope I don't need 'em.

Posted by Nic at 09.16.03 17:19