Hurricane Mania

(photo: Rita barrels toward Texas, eerily following the poor people Katrina chased from New Orleans)

I had to remove my earlier post on Katrina ("Katrina and the Waves") because of the tragedies that followed the storm. But I wanted to repost a portion of it because of Ritaand her ensuing mayhem. According to the National Huricane Center, New England is "statistically overdue" for a major category 3+ hurricane. I learned my neighborhood is far enough inland whereas I wouldn't be clinging to a piece of driftwood after a storm surge, but the carpeting in my cellar would be completely ruined. We've apparently entered a 20-year cycle where the warmer waters in the North Atlantic will produce more intense storms, more frequently. However, what we've seen with back-to-back category 4s and 5s in the Gulf is - according to the NHC - unprecedented. Of course, this brings all kinds of sane/insane theories to the table. Some people attribute this phenomenon to the melting of the polar ice caps. Some credit the first signs of the Apocalypse. Of course, one mendacious "Christian" org is blaming gay people for the natural disasters. What I want to know is whatever happened to that El Nino phenomenon that caused such a shitstorm so many years ago? Here's one theory.

While I certainly don't want Boston to be wiped clean off the eastern seaboard, I must admit I get as frothy as Todd Gross at the prospect of a big storm in Boston. The few hurricanes I've seen (or remember) in my lifetime have been so unspectacular that I only remember events surrounding them and not the actual storms.

1985 Hurricane Gloria - In Boston. Hugely-hyped storm that would have been entirely forgettable had it not been for my neighbors -- the Screaming Brancados -- leaving their masking tape Xs on their windows well into the 1990s. Also remember WBCN playing "Gloria" by U2 and the Doors ad nauseam.
1991 Hurricane Bob - On Cape Cod. A friend named Bob fashioned a superhero's cape from a floral twin sheet, ran around the streets as "Hurricane Bob," and proved fiercer than the storm.
1996 Hurricane Bertha - Hunkered down at the Warren Tavern and Sully's in Charlestown.
1996 Hurricane Edouard - Self-marooned on Nantucket. Jen and I, with our hair inexplicably in braids at the Muse. We earned ourselves the nicknames Ginger and Maryann among co-workers for not making it into work the following Monday. The frozen "Hurricane Eddie" cocktails at the Muse were much more memorable than the storm.
1999 Hurricane Floyd - In Boston. Floyd was barreling up the coast with predictions of a direct hit on my wedding day. The storm caused high anxiety and some wind gusts that, while wimpy, made for some very cool b&w photos.