“As
The Hurricane Draws Ever Near, A Time To Hope And Pray, A Time To ‘Watch And
Wait’…Always To Wait”
08/26/12
To my very, very special friends, and wonderfully
loyal readers, a ‘special storm update’, what there is of it.
How much difference can a day, or two, or three
make, when considering the uncertain, and potential destructive, and/or deadly
progress of an hurricane?
As precious hours pass, those of us who may be most
affected feel the most helpless before the impact of a major storm.
Think, for a moment, of the hurricane as a pinball,
and the entire Gulf Coast, from Galveston, Texas, through the states of Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and…Florida as mere distant lights at the rear
of a pinball machine; once launched (with NO use of the side ‘flippers’ to
bear-upon direction), the hurricane takes on a life of its own, and describes a
unique swath of destruction.
Only the legion of interactive variables such as
water temperature, depth, times of high and low tide, wind direction, and…time
influence the course, and strength of an hurricane, and how ultimately strong,
persistent, or deadly it will be, or become.
Some time ago, I happened to read that—despite all
the improvements and inventions designed to help more accurately predict the
weather—beyond about seventy-two hours, or, three days (inclusive!), the
prediction of weather becomes ineffective, and thus remains—for the most part—a
complete, guessing game.
For a five to ten-day forecast of the present
hurricane, one might as well tape-up a map of the Gulf of Mexico, and then
throw darts at it.
Of course, with the marvel of computers, and
computer-generated images, satellite maps, historical compilation, and use of ‘fly-though’
aircraft that yield valuable information about the storm, still, the projected
path of a storm, and where it will make landfall, is still a matter known only
to God.
No one knows—for example—quite why the confluence of
weather datum fails to predict how intense and powerful a hurricane may become;
one good indicator is an observed drop in barometric pressure within, and
around the storm. The lower the
barometric pressure becomes, the more intense is the hurricane.
Still, no one knows exactly why this occurs. Hurricanes are—I believe—divided into five
categories, ranging from 1-5, with one, being much less of a hurricane, to a
category five, which—by the way—is the strength of the hurricane that destroyed
New Orleans, Louisiana, known as ‘Katrina’.
For those of you who may be curious, perhaps ‘Wikipedia’
might describe more fully, the differing categories of hurricanes. For our purposes, here, suffice to say that
there is a profound difference between hurricanes rated at a windspeed, and
force of category one, to one that is rated a category five.
At category five, a hurricane of that magnitude
confers destruction on a scale quite unimaginable, sweeping-up into its ravening
vortex everything in its path, literally changing the surfaces of land masses,
rendering areas, and populations devoid of life, and causing untold billions of
dollars in wanton damage.
Frankly, my most dear friends, there is NO way one
can prepare for the arrival, and effects of a category five hurricane. For arguments sake, let’s assume that
everything would be as vaporized as if from an atomic blast, but without the
resulting radioactivity.
And while hurricanes generally lose much of their
force upon making landfall, they can re-intensify on the other side when again
traveling out to sea, and pose—then—a very real threat all the way up the
eastern seaboard to New York State!
Of course, those who live in areas in the United
States not affected by hurricane (though, these areas DO include the Gulf coast
states, in general, and Florida—where I live—in particular!), are often profoundly
affected by tornadoes, either singly, in groups, or developed in rapid
succession.
With tornadoes, there is practically no warning of
their occurrence whatsoever, their paths are unpredictable, and, they can develop
a tendency to ‘skip’, touching down randomly along their plotted course.
This is why (although it seems unimaginable), on
say, an ordinary, residential street, with houses of similar construction all
lined up, how one home will be quite unaffected, another—perhaps, next door—will
be damaged only slightly, while another will have been reduced to matchsticks
by the tornado’s force.
About five years ago—now—an errant tornado touched
down about four blocks from where I live. As it described an unchartable course
through the neighborhood, my home was left untouched, although—during the storm’s
duration—it seemed to vacuum the trees of every dead leaf, broke off and blew
branches and tree limbs all about the yard, and swept-away everything loose on
the back deck: outdoor furniture, potted plants were recovered some fifty yards
away against some trees in the undeveloped lot adjacent to mine.
However, homes were damaged all along the path it
took; some mobile homes were rendered uninhabitable, and one—in particular
(because I saw pictures of it later), was ‘squashed’ in the middle, having been
soundly struck by an uprooted, and falling tree. Dear friends, imagine the middle of that
mobile home (right at the front door!) effectively reduced to about three feet in height! Thank Heavens, the occupants were away at the
time!
Despite all our knowledge, and all of our combined
Science, no one, neither Man, President, Scientist, nor state, or city
Governments can prevent tornadoes or hurricanes from occurring.
In a fit of helpless pique, I once telephoned a
local television station, and their weather department, to speak to a meteorologist
regarding the possible destruction of hurricanes, especially when they were
still so very far from habitation.
I was younger, then, as I did not particularly care
that I might be well-considered to be ‘just another crack-pot’!
Said I ( and, my dearest friends, you—too—may think
me either stupid, or batty, or…both!), why cannot the airplanes that routinely
fly-through the centers of hurricanes to record data, to—simply—while they are
there, to lob a low-radiation nuclear device into the hurricanes’ ‘eye’, at the
base where the storm touches water, and then…voila…just blow the hurricane to
pieces, effectively turning it into no more than a large field of thunderstorms,
and rainy weather?
I must say that the meteorologist with whom I spoke
was very kind, patient, and—without doubt—long-suffering.
He told me that first, it might cause a wide
distribution of radioactive rain, and water; secondly, that it might pose a
threat to inhabited areas.
Then, just as I had concluded that I had sounded
like some loose-witted maniac, he finally told me something quite unbelievable.
For when I apologized for abusing his time, and credulity, he told me that the
use of a nuclear deterrent in hurricane elimination had already been suggested,
and considered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Otherwise, EVERY year, from the beginning of June,
until quite the end of December, we—in Florida, and elsewhere—periodically check
the weather channels, always half-holding our collective breaths, watching and
waiting for any pronounced tropical disturbances to imamate from the west coast
of Africa; we watch, helpless, as tropical storms strengthen into hurricanes as
they languidly plow-through the Atlantic waters, headed ever westward, but to
where?
Only time, my dearest friends, will tell.
For those of you who are—at present—threatened by
Hurricane Isaac, or who live within the unfolding, projected path of the storm,
please know I think of you; you are in my thoughts, and prayers. And…that’s
about all we CAN do for each other. I
say prayers—too—really, for all of us.
And
please, please always know I love you dearly!
‘Zahc’/Charles
