Waiting on the Storm

Just a short update and thoughts on hurricanes...

Pre-storm PTSD incoming...I'm glad I recognize it for what it is, these days, but it still sucks.

TS Debbie will barely be a Cat1 (if that) when it lands, and in Florida we generally call that "rain with a name." There will be some flooding, some property damage, and a bit of inconvenience.

The big worry these days are tornadoes, which have gotten wayyyy more common than they used to be.

But in Tallahassee right now, there is that ambient lull of waiting, waiting, waiting. The corner gas stations are all already out of gas and low on beer. It's Sunday morning as I write this, so Christians are going to church but the rest of us are all battening down the hatches.

I charge up my cheap weather radio, set out my collection of emergency candles, make a pot of coffee to have on standby in the morning if the power goes out, and get Keely one last walk in before the squall bands hit. It’s a familiar dance of preparedness, except for the fact I don’t have enough money to buy a case of beer.

It’s never enough to chase the apprehension away.

I don’t know how many hurricanes I’ve weathered over the years, but the worst of Hurricane Charley in ‘04, which was terrifying. It changed my life in major and minor ways. Sometimes I don’t think I ever recovered, not really.

I talked with an Andrew survivor the other day, and we commiserated on just how tight our nerves are wound up already. How silly we feel about that, because hell, we get terrible storms a few times a week in these parts. Just yesterday the power went out due to lightning up the road.

"It was just a storm!"

Yeah, buddy, it was. It always will be.

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