That Constant Cone of Uncertainty

Chris Kuhn

Editor, skirt! Tampa Bay

I'm an outspoken thirtysomething who has lived in the Tampa Bay area since 1992, full of useless facts on just about every facet of pop culture. I'm passionate about vegetarianism without passing judgment. I love to laugh. If we can't talk politics, music, movies, sports, TV or current events, you'...

Chris, Editor for skirt! Tampa Bay

Thursday, September, 4, 2008

I’m having flashbacks. I knew last summer when we suffered barely a scratch from the hurricane season that we’d pay for it this year. First, Gustav. Now Hanna and Ike. And I hear Josephine is already brewing far, far away. I know we've been lucky so far, and other parts of the region appear more vulnerable than us as a target, but it's that nagging fear at this time of year that I dread every season.

As a kid growing up in Naples, Fla., I never worried like this. Sure, we’d have the occasional hurricane threat, stay up all night watching the local news and if we were lucky, get to stay home from school the next day, usually for no good reason. But it wasn’t a constant fear implanted in me by my family, friends and the all-too-cheerful local weather forecasters.

I can’t imagine what it must be like for children today hearing about the devastating effects of these storms, more destructive than ever, and being inundated with such frequent and frightening weather reports. How does a child receive this information through eight-year-old eyes and process it? Does our local media create too much fear and hysteria about every storm, so that we no longer expect even real threats to hit here? It often feels like we’re being scared beyond her wits just for the thrill of good TV coverage.

Then there’s the simple inconvenience of the hurricane season of the 21st century. What was once a favorite time of year for Caribbean cruises and Atlantic Coast cabin adventures now becomes a big question mark. Should we buy plane tickets? Do we schedule the garage sale? Can we possibly plan anything when we’re not even sure if the windows will be boarded up? Yet come October, we experience some of the most beautiful weather of the year.

I don’t want to sound like a whiner. We’ve been really lucky and I’m constantly reminded of this when I see old footage of the remnants of Rita, Katrina, Hugo and others. I guess I’m just amazed how long we’ve gone fairly unscathed. As a sometimes gambler, I worry that our luck will run out some time. And it stands to reason that as the number of hurricanes increases each year, our odds jump, too.

Now, excuse me, while I count the water bottles in our pantry. And the D batteries. And the canned goods...