if I were more html savvy you would see something cool – and totally “OFF” about the site today-
January 18 2012
Stop SOPA - and I'm not talking soup!
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at least I think that is what she would tell you, if asked. The weather before the hurricane cools off and the weather after the hurricane is usually spectacular. Case in Point: Late this afternoon (Sunday Aug. 28) was the most magnificent day. It was warm with a cool breeze. The sky was exceptionally clear with a few cumulous clouds. From my dog’s perspective, the time spent inbetween brings many welcome friends to stay the night (just like holidays) and everyone is home all day long. Plenty of company, which Samis (Samoyeds) crave.
I do not like hurricanes. Then again – I have yet to hear of a person who does. This year it was a Category 1 hurricane named Irene. I was relieved to find out that I have recovered somewhat to my hurricane PTSD (thanks to Isabel, Charlie, Katrina, Rita, & Ike). Two years ago, if the word “hurricane” was mentioned in the media, my first reaction was panic. I did not experience much anxiety about Irene, until in the midst of her arrival, she began to spawn tornadoes. Here we were, about 20 miles or so from the eye of the hurricane, being given advisories about tornadoes that were coming closer and closer to our direction. FEMA advice: Take refuge in basement.
Oh my what a dilemma – the basement was flooding due to the hurricane, and two of our house occupants were elderly and could not walk to the basement themselves. And then there were the cats. Just how do you coax an anxious cat who is already hiding somewhere from the hurricane storm sounds, out to get in a carrier? NOT happening. I stood in the middle of my little ranch house and knew it was just plain beyond us. Perhaps next time, I will confine my cats ahead of time for rapid evacuation.
In retrospect, in comparison to Isabel (Category 2 – 2003), Irene was a category “Meh” on the scale of hurricane trauma in our area. Many thanks and appreciations for being in this category of East Coast residents. As my niece said after Irene passed further NE, “Was that IT?” I was heavily involved with animal rescue efforts in NOLA post-Katrina, and was quite pleased to see that the memory of that trauma had borne some good down the road. Red Cross shelters and NY taxis were permitting owners to evacuate with their companion animals. Though there are always those who make themselves feel better about criticizing government leaders in the wake of any crisis, I can’t help but compare the status of our governments pre-Katrina and pre-Irene. The attitude of the Federal Government pre-Katrina was – “If they need us, they will let us know”. Pre-Irene the FEMA etal were taking a pro-active stance – contacting all local government leaders, staging supplies, making all kinds of contingency plans.
Could say a lot more comparing post-Katrina to post-Irene. I will just finish by saying, I am willing to bet good money that six years from now, the number of people who are still out of their homes and neighborhoods due to Irene, will be negligible. I still have friends who are not living (yet) in their NOLA homes, as it is still beyond their financial means to do the necessary repairs.
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