billpalmer.net

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to ask if I made it through the hurricane alright. The whole thing actually ended up happening quite south of me, but to give you an idea of just how large the storm was, I'm about two hundred miles north of where the eye of the storm hit, and I still saw (some) effects of the storm here. Nothing on the level of a hurricane, but strong enough wind to make it not safe to go outside for an entire day. But it's completely done with by now. At least here anyway.

Unfortunately that's not the case down south. No electricity, no water, and apparently limited phone service appear to be ruling the day, as I just this evening managed to make contact with my dad for a brief and gargled conversation in which I believe he said they're all showering at his place of work. I've got friends whose cell phones are either dead or simply not ringing, with the kind of "all circuits are busy" error message that you usually only receive when you're walking out of a packed football stadium.

But I'm not all that worried. This isn't another New Orleans. Although the two storms themselves were somewhat analogous, it was the flooding that did in New Orleans, and that's not happening this time, at least not to that extent. Being at sea level or below sea level is all the difference in the world. The levee breaks in New Orleans immediately pushed eight feet of water into the city, while South Florida is apparently not seeing more than two or three feet of water at its worst, essentially accumulated rain water. No levees to break, no lakes to come flooding into town. Still, a big mess. Limited access to the most basic of supplies. In most cases though, lives not ruined -- just lives on pause for awhile.