Come on Irene
Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:28:16 am

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Every time a hurricane is predicted to come here, there are dire warnings of death and destruction. Hurricanes are indeed powerful and very damaging, but they seldom retain much power by the time they reach New York City. I disregarded dire predictions for this hurricane as I have done for all others. Considering past history, I have an extremely good chance of being correct. The only powerful hurricane I recall reaching here was Hurricane Gloria, which was back in 1985. It was also the first hurricane I recall ever knowing about, so my perceptions/memories may have exaggerated its power. The only clear fact that I recall about that one is that school was cancelled for one day and one lone cicada arrived in my neighborhood.

Shutting down the public transportation, forcing people to evacuate their homes against their will, and turning off electricity seem to me to be extreme overreactions. This looks to me like a bunch of politicians being afraid that they may take the blame for allowing another Katrina to happen. I can understand why these measures would seem right for them, but I don't agree that they are right for us.

The hurricane has already been downgraded to Category 1 despite earlier predictions that it would get stronger instead of weaker. The most powerful winds currently predicted by accuweather.com are 56mph. A few trees may fall and there will be flooding where drains are clogged, but I am not expecting to need to get rescued by boat.