Hurricane Season is Here. Do You Even Care?

These days when the local weatherman announces that there is a hurricane, there seems to be that deep feeling of...apathy. Most of the news viewing public takes the approach of, 'Oh okay...that's weeks away...what channel is American Idol on?"

It's not that people don't care but they have become blasé due to the advanced warnings and the 'it won't happen to us' attitude. That could explain why dozens of surfers will be out searching for that big one and another dozen will be standing ready with their camcorders hoping to make a fast buck thanks to those reality shows that love to show personal disasters over and over and over again.

In fact, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) have already predicted a 75% chance that 2007 will have an above normal hurricane season. NOAA scientists have already predicted 13-17 storms and that 7-10 of them will become hurricanes. In the past, those numbers have been lighter than what really happened. That doesn't give our southern coastal friends a warm and fuzzy feeling but it does give one pause to think about preparation.

Back in 1969, it was so different than it is today. Warnings were not as immediate because of the type of warning system. We are definitely more advanced with the NOAA's Hurricane Field Program, GIV high altitude jets to examine incoming storms and GPS dropsondes. In the 1960's, the first experimental weather satellite, the TIROS I, had just been launched. Towns that were not along the coastal region did not take warnings as seriously as was the case in Camille. It was assumed that one would be safe if you didn't live near the water. They were wrong.

Unfortunately, Camille was a Category 5 and grew worse when she hit ground with her escort, 190 mph winds. And the lady made a grand entrance as she destroyed most of the southern coastal regions of Louisiana and Mississippi. She ended her temper tantrum in the Appalachian area of Virginia.

I am a survivor of Hurricane Camille along with nine other hurricanes. As you have already surmised, I am also an old hand on how to prepare for the kind of weather that can only be described as the 'hand of God'.