Storm watch: seeking shelter when the weather turns sour

Hurricane Idalia just passed through bringing a lot of rain, a little wind and, thankfully, nothing else. Before this storm started dominating the headlines, I had never heard the name Idalia before. It sounds suspiciously like the delicious onions grown exclusively in the soil of south-central Georgia.

But the name Idalia has been around for a while. Of Greek origin the name means “behold the sun.” I’ve seen nothing of the sun during Idalia’s visit to town. A quick Google search reveals that the most famous person with the name was a Cuban actress called Idalia Anreus. She had a near three-decade career on stage and film before dying in 1998.

I’ve never seen any of her films, but that gives me something else to do the next time I’m stuck inside during a storm.

Other people in the storm’s path fared much worse than I. There was neither power failure (not even a flicker) nor tree felled in my little corner of the world. It turned out to be a nice, quiet, rainy afternoon, not that I hadn’t made just-in-case preparations. The evening before was spent putting outdoor furniture, toys and anything a strong gust of wind could turn into a flying projectile, away, catching water in the bathtub and gassing up my old generator.

Weather, particularly severe weather, conjures up memories for a lot of people. Most of us remember where we were when a massive storm struck, whether a hurricane, a snowstorm or those pop-up summer dark clouds that can turn into tornadoes. Much of my childhood was spent in a trailer, one of those structures they warn you not to be in with bad weather arrives. So anytime severe weather warnings were issued, we had to seek shelter next door at my grandparents’ home, which is a proper brick and mortar structure.

A nearby uncle, aunt and cousins were in the same boat, or rather similar dwelling. I have many memories of late nights huddled with the whole family in the hall at my grandparents, the only light coming from cracks of lightning outside, with either my dad or uncle with a battery powered radio to their ear listening for updates. Now it is my turn to keep an eye on the weather and make sure everybody is somewhere safe.

Times have changed though, now I can track the weather 24-hours a day with my phone.

One thing to not do when preparing for bad weather is to panic shop. There’s nothing good about hoarding gasoline, trampling children for a case of water or punching a little old lady for the last pack of toilet paper. We’ve all seen the videos. Weather can make people go crazy.

All I have left to do now is drain the tub and put the chairs back on the porch and be thankful that I’m alive to watch for another storm.

HHJ News