For a very long time, I’ve wondered if the weather predictors aren’t paid by certain merchants to “predict” bad weather, creating a buying frenzy at some stores. I, of course, know that isn’t the case, but weather does tend to drive some people to grocery stores, and hardware stores, to name a couple.
Here in Florida the most talked about weather is hurricanes and tropical storms – both tend to produce the threat of tornadoes simultaneously. Weather experts, for days in advance, talk about developing weather coming off the coast of Africa and heading toward the United States.
For over a week now reports of Hurricane Debby have dominated the news, with more than a 60% chance the developing storm near Africa would turn into a hurricane as it got closer and closer to Florida. Since this has been our home for three years, we’ve seen many developing storms, with a couple becoming a hurricane that hit one of the coasts of Florida.
Since our home is more central (there’s no way we could have afforded a home on the coast), I tend to see more heavy rain and strong winds, but not hurricane strength. Still, the attention potential hurricanes receive isn’t unnecessary and most people seem to pay close attention. Proof of that is in the local grocery and hardware stores where people stock up on batteries, water, toilet paper, and food. As Debby got closer and closer, it was noticeable that there are people who treat potential hurricanes much like they did COVID, with toilet paper disappearing off store shelves. Portable generators are difficult to find in stores too.
As I pen this column on Sunday, the predictions are for nearly eight inches of rain between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday morning. It’s pretty typical here to get heavy rainfall every afternoon, but not for extended periods. Rain will last ten or fifteen minutes and be done – except when a hurricane is headed in our direction.
There’s not a lot we can do to prepare for bad weather – we’ve got food, water and batteries, but we don’t have a basement we can run to if the weather gets bad.
Where our home is there are very, very few above-ground power lines, so we have yet to experience a power outage – our fingers are crossed, and we’ll say some prayers that Debby stays north and west of us and we won’t have to call our insurance company to report any damage.
In three years we’ve also learned that this won’t be the last threatening storm during the 2024 hurricane season.
Have A Good Week!
