Gimme a Ticket for a Hurricane

Irene wades along the east coast, blowin' and goin', and bringing to them what I grew up with down in Louisiana. Kind of like those folks from Minnesota who look at the dusting of snow in Portland and laugh when the place comes to a halt because of it, a C2 storm doesn't get more than a shrug back down home.


Of course, that's because they are used to worse. Audrey, Betsey, Camille. And what was that other one ... ? Oh, yeah, Katrina ...


Not that the folks on the Gulf Coast are immune, but generally, they tend to be better-prepared because, well, they know it's coming. Though New Orleans is the exception that sticks out like a turd in the punchbowl. Of course, Mardi Gras makes them all crazy in New Orleans.


Not accustomed to this kind of thing in Washington, Baltimore, New York City, which had a recent earthquake rattle the shelves, too.


The biggest worries for coasties is not so much the wind, though that can be fierce, but the storm surge that hits at high tide, and the tornadoes that are spawned along the front, and all that rain. If the sucker stalls and just sits there, a foot of rain in a place whose drainage system can't deal with it is a nasty bit of business.


To those folks on the east coast getting lashed by the storm, or about about to, good luck. Hunker down, I hope you got enough flashlight batteries and candles and toilet paper and canned food. And beer. Beer helps.