You know it's going to be a bad storm when the weathermen are scared.
I remember the April tornadoes of 2011, listening to the weathermen talk about them afterwards, about how they sent everyone at the station downstairs to a safe location except those who were absolutely necessary to keep the weather coverage running. There were dozens of tornadoes in that storm, touching down on all sides of everywhere, some apparently within sight range of the station itself.
The weatherpeople admitted they'd been scared then. But they stayed, and did their jobs, because hundreds of thousands of listeners were tuning in to know what was going on, to learn how to be safe and to find out where the greatest danger at any given point in time would be. They stayed and did their jobs, despite life-threatening danger, because people depended on them.
They've got a lot of courage, those people.
Right now, I'm praying that my brother & his fiance, and our aunts, uncles and cousins, all stay safe as they prepare for the storm to blow through.
I'm also, as a writer with an idea for a storm-themed novel, curious about the storm, about what it'll be like and what the aftermath will be. I want to know what a "Frankenstorm" will look like. I know I'll be studying the cloud images afterwards, clicking through weather sites and noting the patterns and the results of each. What will we learn from this storm, I wonder?
And what will these lessons cost?
To everyone preparing to ride out the worst, my prayers and/or wishes for good luck (whichever you prefer). To the brave weather and newspeople who will run out into thick of it with cameras and microphones, be safe. And to the scientists studying the storms, please share what you learn.
What are your thoughts on the approaching storm? Are you in the midst of it? How are you preparing?
I remember the April tornadoes of 2011, listening to the weathermen talk about them afterwards, about how they sent everyone at the station downstairs to a safe location except those who were absolutely necessary to keep the weather coverage running. There were dozens of tornadoes in that storm, touching down on all sides of everywhere, some apparently within sight range of the station itself.
The weatherpeople admitted they'd been scared then. But they stayed, and did their jobs, because hundreds of thousands of listeners were tuning in to know what was going on, to learn how to be safe and to find out where the greatest danger at any given point in time would be. They stayed and did their jobs, despite life-threatening danger, because people depended on them.
They've got a lot of courage, those people.
Right now, I'm praying that my brother & his fiance, and our aunts, uncles and cousins, all stay safe as they prepare for the storm to blow through.
I'm also, as a writer with an idea for a storm-themed novel, curious about the storm, about what it'll be like and what the aftermath will be. I want to know what a "Frankenstorm" will look like. I know I'll be studying the cloud images afterwards, clicking through weather sites and noting the patterns and the results of each. What will we learn from this storm, I wonder?
And what will these lessons cost?
To everyone preparing to ride out the worst, my prayers and/or wishes for good luck (whichever you prefer). To the brave weather and newspeople who will run out into thick of it with cameras and microphones, be safe. And to the scientists studying the storms, please share what you learn.
What are your thoughts on the approaching storm? Are you in the midst of it? How are you preparing?
We're safely in the South. But we used to live in southern Connecticut, so a lot of our friends are going to be taking the brunt of the storm. We're praying for them to stay safe. I've heard school are closed and the highways are being shut down.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to them! Keeping my fingers crossed for your loved ones, too!
DeleteI'm a Floridian, so I've seen my fair share of bad storms, probably to the point of callousness. I forget sometimes that the rest of the country isn't as battened down as we are down here, and a freak storm can be devastating in certain areas.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy seeing all of the footage on the news of floods and wind damage from upcoast this morning. Hope your family's doing okay!
So far they've checked in as fine. :) Still haven't heard from everyone, but the ones in the most direct path have given us a thumbs-up, hurrah!
DeleteIt's eerie looking at the pictures. New York is creepy without lights--or is it just me who thinks that?