Monday, August 4, 2008

Tropical Storm on the way

It looks like Galveston will be getting Tropical Storm Eduard tonight or tomorrow. We certainly need the rain but since it will go in north and east of us, we may not get much. It is a minor storm now but may (or may not) intensify as it gets closer to the coast. Since we don't have television reception here at OakMeadow, we are spared the non-stop warnings and precautions. So much of what passes for news now is just sensationalization. I guess they have to say something to fill up all the hours of news time but I don't have to listen to it.

I've been through some doozies of hurricanes and have a very healthy respect for them. One of my earliest memories is being carried by a National Guardsman through the swirling water of Hurricane Audrey; then there was Hurricane Carla which put 3 feet of sea water into my parents house; then there was Hurricane Camille when I was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I deliberately chose not to live on the coast because of the possibility every year of being flooded by a hurricane. We are far enough inland that rising tides are not a concern; torrential rain, winds, and tornadoes are always possibilities. Life is not risk free; you limit your risk and go from there.

As I have said before, I am appalled that people have built houses right on the beach with nothing but a small sand dune between them and the Gulf. When a hurricane comes along, as it inevitably will, and destroys their house, all the reporters will be out sympathetically interviewing the people who have lost their homes. Well, duh, what do you expect when you build there???

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