Hurricane Sandy, Part 1

The calm before the storm.

Media coverage of Hurricane Sandy is--as with any major storm--at a fever pitch. Nothing sells more commercial television time between newscasts than a little weather scare. Every storm becomes the "Storm of the Century" if a TV channel can sell you a few more fast-food burgers or offer a "storm sale" from the local car dealership. How responsible are meteorologists in reporting this upcoming storm?

One side effect of the weather scare permeated by various media outlets is to create a rush on emergency goods, such as bottled water, flashlights, batteries, etc., which helps the local economies of businesses, but also results in a shortage of supplies. That is what I experienced on Sunday, October 28, 2012 as my wife and I went from store to store looking for a simple flashlight, in case the power goes out in the house and we're left in the dark. Not one store had a serviceable flashlight, and we checked them all--Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears Hardware, Walmart, Kmart, Giant Supermarkets, Rite-Aid, and even a couple of dollar stores. All sold-out, no thanks to the weather scare. None of these stores even had the D-size batteries we were looking for in order to replenish our "lantern-style" flashlights at home. I was tempted to go to RadioShack, because they are known for their well-stocked battery displays, but after searching all the other stores, we just drove home defeated. Our efforts were all for nothing.

I guess if the power goes out, we can rely on candles. A sort of Amish turn-of-events that takes us back to a time before Edison. We have plenty of waxy sticks with wicks at home, especially the scented kind. This truly romantic setting--the bedroom darkness broken by the flickering flame while the aroma of florals and fruits wafts through the sensually-charged air--will make surviving Hurricane Sandy a more pleasurable affair to remember. Still, you have to wonder about nature.

We claim to understand the world we live in, but the truth is that the world is constantly surprising us with its power. From periods of great heat and drought to periods of great snowfall and frigid cold, there is never a time of seemingly consistent weather. And, not surprisingly, we cannot control any of it. We are at the mercy of our own environment, of the planet's petulance or of the world's whim.

Hurricane Sandy will bring about high winds and torrential rains, more than likely flooding many places and causing may hardships or deaths. But how we weather this storm will say a lot about us as people. Neighbor helping neighbor to survive what are commonly called "acts of God." Perhaps that is why we experience such extremes in weather--a divine test to see the good (or evil) in our human nature. Is God testing us? I don't claim to know. But I do know this much...

We are a strong people and we will get through this raging and rampaging storm. And after the winds have subsided and the rains have ceased, we can relegate Hurricane Sandy to the dusty pages of history as just another storm--full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

I await Prospero's magic... (to be continued, after the storm, in Part 2).
~Andrew K.