Hurricane Time...Excellent!!
Hurricane season is here, and as a result, people are starting to prepare. Well, not all people apparently. AOL had a nice little story about Tropical Depression #1 approaching Florida, the chances of it becoming the first named storm, and that “officials” are warning people to put together hurricane preparedness kits. First of all, I don’t listen to “officials” – especially if the “o” isn’t capitalized…and they are that vague. Secondly, they had a picture in the story of people hanging out on the beach, sunning themselves in perfect weather...with a giant tanker ship just off shore ruining the picturesque view. I can't get stupid blogger to upload the picture right now...if I could, you would see it. But if this picture really tells the story of the need to prepare for hurricanes…and you could see the picture...do you think you would feel the call to action? The only call to action I saw was to protest big ships getting in the way of pretty pictures of people on the beach.
The caption was even better:
Florida officials pleaded with residents to update their hurricane preparedness plans but most shrugged at the news.
Florida officials pleaded with residents to update their hurricane preparedness plans but most shrugged at the news.
What the heck does that have to do with a picture of happy people on the beach about to be run over by a giant ship?
At the end of last hurricane season, I posted my tips for preparing for hurricanes. But the start of this new and improved season reminds me of two of my own funny hurricane preparedness stories to share.
When I was in college, we periodically got warnings about tropical storms or hurricanes heading our way. I recall one tropical storm my freshman year, as a young, naïve New Yorker, brand new to these exciting storms. Classes weren’t cancelled or anything, but a giant black snake was knocked out of a huge tree behind our dorm and the guys that lived in our building went outside to pick it up and look at it. But I digress…
During my junior year we did get a threat of a hurricane severe enough to warrant closing school for a Thursday and Friday. That was to give people time to get home and help board up, or do whatever they do. I was staying on campus, and didn’t have much to do. So my friends and I that were on campus decided that it would be fun to actually do the things they told us to do to get ready for the hurricane.
1) Move all electronics away from windows.
2) Put the big wardrobes in front of the windows to protect the contents of the room.
3) And some other stuff I have since forgotten.
I lived in a quad, and my 3 roommates all went home for the storm. But my boyfriend at the time and our friends were still on campus. First, we “prepared” my quad. One of my roommates had a big TV sitting on top of her wardrobe, so we took it down, put it inside the wardrobe, and put the back of the wardrobe up against her window in her room for her, to protect it. Then we moved all of the remaining electronics into safe places, like the bathroom. Then we all went and bunked in one of the guys’ rooms. (Shhhh…I went to a Catholic college…there was no cohabitation! Ummm. Really. There wasn’t.)
To make a long story short, the storm never came. It was nice and sunny, blue sky. We just had two awesome days off from school.
We went back to my quad at the end of the weekend and put nearly everything back. Except for one thing. I went to dinner on Sunday, and when I came back, my roommate and campus security were standing in my quad. I asked what happened. My roommate said “Someone stole my TV!” I said, “Ummm, did you check your closet?” Everyone looked at me kinda funny…and she checked her closet. Sure enough, it was still there, safe and protected from the storm. Or sun. I felt kinda sheepish, yet proud that I had thought enough to help protect my roommate’s belongings. She never really appreciated it, I don’t think.
My other story takes place on the opposite side of the Gulf of Mexico, on the same line of latitude as Tampa…in beautiful Corpus Christi. (Look at any piece of tourist info you get from Corpus Christi – the one claim to fame is being on the same line of latitude as Tampa.) I was working for a minor league baseball team, and a strong hurricane threatened our coast. Our team prepared the offices…we wrapped all of our electronics in plastic bags, moved computers away from windows, tarped the field and put boards on it to hold the tarp down. (Which even then I pointed out was really stupid because when we tarped the field during the year, the 20 MPH winds blew the damn thing off, what the hell was a hurricane going to do? My guess was float it over a nearby oil refinery and cover that. Good luck getting it down was what I said. I called “Not it.”)
So the town freaks out. I didn’t worry, I had been living in Florida for years and years, so I knew everything there was to know about hurricane preparedness. I pledged to do the same thing I always did…go to the store, get dinner, head home, and continue on with life.
I made the mistake of stopping at Wal Mart on my way home from work after we had “hurricane proofed” the stadium. EVERYONE had water, batteries and bread. So of course, despite the fact that even on a normal day I rarely buy or use those 3 things in the form that everyone was purchasing, I bought a cart full of them. And freaked out because they were out of AAA batteries. What I would have used them for is beyond me, but the fact that the AAA battery slot was empty worried me because that had to mean that they were useful. And I couldn’t have them.
Then I drove home. Every single business along SPID (that stands for South Padre Island Drive, and is said S…P…I…D – not “spid”) was boarded up, taped up…and closed!! And stayed that way…until the threat of the storm passed. There was no going to Applebees, TGI Fridays or H.E.B. You went home. Boarded up. And stayed there.
I went home. Turned on the TV. Got out snacks. And stayed there. And I think one night some people came over and we watched baseball on TV and drank. But there was no boarding up – I lived in a loft, one whole half of my apartment was glass and two stories high – with no way to reach it.
And guess what? The hurricane never hit. We may have had some sprinkles. But damn, it was a pain in the neck de-hurricane proofing the stadium.
Those are my hurricane preparedness stories. Now I’m in Minnesota and it snows.
At the end of last hurricane season, I posted my tips for preparing for hurricanes. But the start of this new and improved season reminds me of two of my own funny hurricane preparedness stories to share.
When I was in college, we periodically got warnings about tropical storms or hurricanes heading our way. I recall one tropical storm my freshman year, as a young, naïve New Yorker, brand new to these exciting storms. Classes weren’t cancelled or anything, but a giant black snake was knocked out of a huge tree behind our dorm and the guys that lived in our building went outside to pick it up and look at it. But I digress…
During my junior year we did get a threat of a hurricane severe enough to warrant closing school for a Thursday and Friday. That was to give people time to get home and help board up, or do whatever they do. I was staying on campus, and didn’t have much to do. So my friends and I that were on campus decided that it would be fun to actually do the things they told us to do to get ready for the hurricane.
1) Move all electronics away from windows.
2) Put the big wardrobes in front of the windows to protect the contents of the room.
3) And some other stuff I have since forgotten.
I lived in a quad, and my 3 roommates all went home for the storm. But my boyfriend at the time and our friends were still on campus. First, we “prepared” my quad. One of my roommates had a big TV sitting on top of her wardrobe, so we took it down, put it inside the wardrobe, and put the back of the wardrobe up against her window in her room for her, to protect it. Then we moved all of the remaining electronics into safe places, like the bathroom. Then we all went and bunked in one of the guys’ rooms. (Shhhh…I went to a Catholic college…there was no cohabitation! Ummm. Really. There wasn’t.)
To make a long story short, the storm never came. It was nice and sunny, blue sky. We just had two awesome days off from school.
We went back to my quad at the end of the weekend and put nearly everything back. Except for one thing. I went to dinner on Sunday, and when I came back, my roommate and campus security were standing in my quad. I asked what happened. My roommate said “Someone stole my TV!” I said, “Ummm, did you check your closet?” Everyone looked at me kinda funny…and she checked her closet. Sure enough, it was still there, safe and protected from the storm. Or sun. I felt kinda sheepish, yet proud that I had thought enough to help protect my roommate’s belongings. She never really appreciated it, I don’t think.
My other story takes place on the opposite side of the Gulf of Mexico, on the same line of latitude as Tampa…in beautiful Corpus Christi. (Look at any piece of tourist info you get from Corpus Christi – the one claim to fame is being on the same line of latitude as Tampa.) I was working for a minor league baseball team, and a strong hurricane threatened our coast. Our team prepared the offices…we wrapped all of our electronics in plastic bags, moved computers away from windows, tarped the field and put boards on it to hold the tarp down. (Which even then I pointed out was really stupid because when we tarped the field during the year, the 20 MPH winds blew the damn thing off, what the hell was a hurricane going to do? My guess was float it over a nearby oil refinery and cover that. Good luck getting it down was what I said. I called “Not it.”)
So the town freaks out. I didn’t worry, I had been living in Florida for years and years, so I knew everything there was to know about hurricane preparedness. I pledged to do the same thing I always did…go to the store, get dinner, head home, and continue on with life.
I made the mistake of stopping at Wal Mart on my way home from work after we had “hurricane proofed” the stadium. EVERYONE had water, batteries and bread. So of course, despite the fact that even on a normal day I rarely buy or use those 3 things in the form that everyone was purchasing, I bought a cart full of them. And freaked out because they were out of AAA batteries. What I would have used them for is beyond me, but the fact that the AAA battery slot was empty worried me because that had to mean that they were useful. And I couldn’t have them.
Then I drove home. Every single business along SPID (that stands for South Padre Island Drive, and is said S…P…I…D – not “spid”) was boarded up, taped up…and closed!! And stayed that way…until the threat of the storm passed. There was no going to Applebees, TGI Fridays or H.E.B. You went home. Boarded up. And stayed there.
I went home. Turned on the TV. Got out snacks. And stayed there. And I think one night some people came over and we watched baseball on TV and drank. But there was no boarding up – I lived in a loft, one whole half of my apartment was glass and two stories high – with no way to reach it.
And guess what? The hurricane never hit. We may have had some sprinkles. But damn, it was a pain in the neck de-hurricane proofing the stadium.
Those are my hurricane preparedness stories. Now I’m in Minnesota and it snows.
posted by Steph @ 7:07 PM
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