Storms

Hurricanes are a hot topic around here right now. We're all watching Tropical Storm Isaac, and it happens to be the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Andrew. I can remember Hurricane Andrew, but because I was living in the Midwest, it didn't mean much to me. In Miami, though, it feels like it didn't happen that long ago. When we first moved here, some people remarked on my husband's name, because they had different associations with "Andrew" than we did.

Hurricane Andrew was a category 5 storm when it hit Florida two decades ago, and right now there's only a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch. That's enough to make us double-check our hurricane kits, so we stockpiled some extra cat food, candles, batteries, and fuel for our camping stove. I'm told that what we're mainly preparing for is the possibility of days without electricity, so our general preparations include making sure we have food that doesn't need cooking, spare cash, and enough gas in the car. For me, the spectre of boredom looms, so I made a trip to the library this week, too.

When you're preparing your house, the primary focus is on the windows.  In new or renovated houses, people have hurricane-proof windows; otherwise, they board up or shutter the windows. In the past, our landlord boarded up the windows in our house, but now he has extra shutters, and so he's installing shutters today. The shutter system is quite efficient - you install a long line of screws on each side of the window, and those are left there permanently. When a storm comes, the you place the shutters over the windows and secure them with a series of wingnuts.

So, more or less, I feel ready. The university has already announced that it won't be open on Monday. As an academic, there's always work I can do, so that probably just means I'll be working at home instead of on campus.