Tag: hurricanes

Our Own Band of Brothers

 

Have you ever noticed how the bands of a hurricane resemble the loving and expansive group of people who encircle and surround you through a storm? Many of us have had times in our lives when we’ve reached out to others when we feel threatened or vulnerable. Hurricanes can also inspire those emotions, but it has its own unique qualities.

Unlike an illness when we seek the comfort of others, we can often see the hurricane coming. It comes in small steps, often meandering its way from the African coast. Many of us who could potentially be in its path watch it with a cautious eye, and hope that it will dissipate or go in a different direction. And many times, like an untended flower, it complies.

This time is different. We knew that Hurricane Ian was coming, and hoped that like a few other times over the last 20 years, he would go on his merry way—somewhere else. It didn’t take long for us to realize that he would be showing up as an uninvited guest, and we would have to grudgingly prepare for him. So we did the extra shopping, checked the generator, filled the bathtub, and hunkered down. And as we watched the expanding bands of the enormous storm grow, we could see the bands of our relationships expand.

What Prayers Do You Offer When Catastrophe Looms?

 

This morning, I’ve been thinking a great deal about my many friends in Florida. Off the top of my head (and forgive me if I’ve left you out), I can identify @frontseatcatt, @formerlawprof, @jamesgawron, @samuelblock, @cm, @bossmongo, @eb, @theotherdiane, @kevincreighton, @barkhaherman, and I know there are many others. Feel free to use this post to let us know where you are.

Due to the impending hurricane, I’m inclined to pray for all of these folks, for those who have already been hit in the islands, and for those who may be hit outside of Florida. But I realized that prayer is an odd thing: outside of the written prayers, just what can or should I pray for?

I tend to pray for the safety and well-being of those who could be affected. I don’t pray for the storm to move away from us; I believe that G-d rarely interferes with nature, and I don’t know if he chooses to act on hurricanes. I also realize the storm may miss us altogether. But assuming it arrives here, I think prayer is helpful in many ways.

Member Post

 

If you get a chance, say a prayer tonight for the current and former Ricocheti in the path of Dorian’s wrath.  As I’m on the Gulf coast side, at worst, I’m looking at a day of Cat 1 hurricane winds. Others are not so lucky. Remember them in your prayers.  Preview Open

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We’ve spent the last couple years holding our breaths every time there’s to be a major vote in the Senate . . . our reactions to President Trump range from cringing to whole-hearted celebration . . . and now we are making wagers on who will be victorious in the mid-term elections. Will the Republicans […]

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Have there been any posts about the Weather Channel dude, the ex-mime reporter who, fighting hurricane-force winds, is intrepid in his telling of Florence’s fury as two other dudes amble around in the background wearing shorts and tennis shoes? The Weather Channel stood by their guy, stating he was on slick, wet grass, while the […]

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Nicole Gelinas and Brian Anderson discuss recent disaster-relief efforts in the United States, the federal government’s role in such assistance, and how national flood insurance and other recovery programs could be reformed.

Since 2005, Washington has spent nearly $300 billion on disaster recovery, with state and local governments spending billions more. This figure doesn’t even include last year’s devastating storm season, which ravaged Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

The latest FEMA “strategic plan” mentions “risking natural hazard risk” but not a peep about global warming, rising sea levels or devastating weather. Alice Hill, a Hoover Institution research fellow focusing on building resilience to catastrophic events, discusses the Trump Administration’s reluctance to utter the phrase “climate change” and where scientific debate stands in 2018.

Americans watched with forlorn fascination as devastating hurricanes laid waste to stretches of Florida and Texas. Hoover research fellow Alice Hill explains how the nation can better prepare for future natural disasters. The key word is “resilience.”

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are back from vacation.  Before discussing the day’s martinis, they remember the horrific events of September 11, 2001 and why we must remember what happened that day.  Then they welcome the news that Hillary Clinton will never run for office again and laugh as she blames the “godforsaken electoral college” among many other factors for her defeat last year.  They also shake their heads as a tongue-in-cheek Facebook page encouraging people to “Shoot at Hurricane Irma” gets the media and even law enforcement very alarmed.  And they sigh as the major networks once again send their reporters into fierce storms, somehow thinking we won’t believe there is a hurricane unless we see their people getting hammered by the rain and wind.

Home Is Where the Wreck Is

 

There’s no place I’d rather live than the beautiful Gulf Coast beach where my grandparents built a small house and dwelled for twenty or so years. Family and friends huddled in sleeping bags every year so we could enjoy its simple bliss together.

Half the time, the TV was tuned to hurricane tracking. My grandparents knew when they built the place that anything on the coast is temporary. I helped shovel truckloads of sand off the deck after a storm. I helped rebuild the deck and stairs after they got swept away with a surge, and repaired damage left by roof leaks. I watched as twin waterspouts (tornadoes) danced toward shore and faded away. By the grace of God, when a hurricane did finally pick up the house and set it down on the road — as we knew would happen one day — my grandparents had already sold the property (mainly due to taxes). But oh how we wish we could buy it back!

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My family is ready for the big guy to hit. We have plenty of essentials such as bottled beer and wine water, extra liquor batteries, and potato chips bread & luncheon meats for sandwiches.  While we don’t expect the power to go out (we’re pretty far inland), the wind could knock down tree branches, which in […]

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Susan Quinn’s recent post on Cyber Threats http://ricochet.com/cyber-warfare-the-russians-are-coming/ prompted me to share the following check list. While many on Ricochet are well prepared, we have many new members and I wanted to share the information I posted on my blog when we had unprecedented local flooding a couple years back: Preview Open

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The New York Times is generally credited with having introduced the genre of highlighting the suffering of government-favored groups, perfectly satirized by Mort Sahl when he posited the headline World Ends, Women and Minorities Hardest Hit. (Page 2: Woman Completely Satisfied). While the Times may have created the genre, the Washington Post perfected it with its […]

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The 6.1 earthquake did wake me up here in Sonoma County, CA. The building rolled, the blinds rattled and the cat jumped on our bed and stayed for the remainder of the night. In Napa there were fires, power outages, and scores of injuries but no fatalities that I’ve heard about. Preview Open

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