Book Review: A Day Like Any Other
Today I read a book by Genie Chipps Henderson " A Day Like Any Other: the Great Hamptons Hurricane of 1938". I've long been interested in TEOTWAWKI stories, and this is one of those. It focuses on the days leading up to and the actual day of the hurricane with very little about the aftermath, but it reminds me starkly of Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson, about a storm in 1900 that wiped out Galveston, TX. One of the things that was the same: the weather forecasters knew about it, but their bosses thought it would panic the densely populated areas the storm was likely to hit so they did NOT warn them. Because that's the thing: the scientists may know it's coming, but the politicians won't let them do anything about it.
So, yeah, once in a century storms now come once every couple dozen years now, and they are killers when they come. I'm looking out at the tranquil ocean as I write this, remembering the Patriot's Day storm about ten years ago that made the island lose power, washed out roads, uprooted trees and... that's about it. I don't recall any buildings being damaged. The water district was knocked offline for a few days, though. We're so protected in this harbor, it's hard to imagine a hurricane wiping out the waterfront houses. A 30' wall of water would kill my grass from the salt, but I think we're at 35' above sea level: I don't think we'd get water in our basement. The roof could blow off, though. When we on the island of St. Maarten last winter I was struck by the way they had either new roofs or no roofs: nearly 100% of the buildings lost their roof in that last hurricane season.
So, hurricanes are larger, hotter, wilder, more frequent, and go to more places than you expect. And don't expect any warning, because politicians mind panic more than they mind deaths. Food for thought.
So, yeah, once in a century storms now come once every couple dozen years now, and they are killers when they come. I'm looking out at the tranquil ocean as I write this, remembering the Patriot's Day storm about ten years ago that made the island lose power, washed out roads, uprooted trees and... that's about it. I don't recall any buildings being damaged. The water district was knocked offline for a few days, though. We're so protected in this harbor, it's hard to imagine a hurricane wiping out the waterfront houses. A 30' wall of water would kill my grass from the salt, but I think we're at 35' above sea level: I don't think we'd get water in our basement. The roof could blow off, though. When we on the island of St. Maarten last winter I was struck by the way they had either new roofs or no roofs: nearly 100% of the buildings lost their roof in that last hurricane season.
So, hurricanes are larger, hotter, wilder, more frequent, and go to more places than you expect. And don't expect any warning, because politicians mind panic more than they mind deaths. Food for thought.