Detached from Hurricane Ike

As I begin to read Lydia’s story, I recall the days that led up to the named storm, Hurricane Katrina. It was the year 2005. Most of the people I came in contact with were tracking the storm and wondered if the storm would come our way. We spoke of how we would prepare for the storm. I was afraid because my husband was on the road and I was alone to take care of my five-year-old child and my home. Lydia was brave as she rode out the storm.

The thundering sound of the bomb blast could be heard for miles. Men, women, and children run frantically in order to find shelter, being blinding by the massive amounts of dust that have caused the sky to turn yellow. Mothers are scavenging for their children, who were playing games outside, now stuck deep in the rubble of buildings that have collapsed on top of them. Houses have been destroyed, families have been obliterated and innocent lives have been lost. For many around the world, situations like these have become a part of everyday life. In A Pure, High Note of Anguish, author Barbara Kingsolver describes the confusion and questions that arose after the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11th. 9/11 was the largest terrorist

“The Voices of Hurricane Katrina” is an article published by Abe Louise Young (MFA in poetry), in the summer of 2010. Young is a New Orleans native and considers herself to be a social justice activist and poet. She became familiar with many of Hurricane Katrina’s victims during one of her early projects only a week after the storm. Years later, Young found herself outraged after stumbling upon the published work of author Raymond McDaniel. McDaniel stole testimonials from the same victims she had met and altered their true statements. Young informed a woman named Antoinette (one of the famous voices of Katrina) that her words had been published by McDaniel. Antoinette expressed how hurt she was, confirming the words published were her

In the turn of the new century, the people of Galveston were faced with a grim reminder. The event that destroyed the small island of Galveston, the Galveston Hurricane, had many social, political, and economic impacts that made this storm life-changing. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 improved Texas for the better and helped Galveston grow stronger as a city.

This story begins with the introduction of Mr. Isaac Cline, a well educated Tennessee native, who served as the Chief Meteorologist in Galveston, Texas during the late 1800’s. Isaac and his Wife Cora May, as well as their four kids, lived in their newly built “storm proof” home alongside the Galveston Coast. Isaac took an interest in how weather affected people’s health, and did so alongside his ever eager brother, Joseph. During Isaac’s time as Chief Meteorologist, he helped lead the change in how modern Meteorologists study the weather today. Galveston, being a bountiful city, had the money to put into public works that would interest people into either living in or visiting Galveston. This busy city had intentions on becoming one of the most well known cities in the United States, a city that at the time could be compared to New York.

Morning brought the peace of a warm sunny day to the small town of Tributary; such a contrast to the violent events of the day before, still there was a sense of mourning in the air. The town folk spent much of the day recovering lost property. Everyone felt fortunate to have found their missing belongings. Everyone except Corvida Bratleigh! Rather than being thankful her playhouse was undamaged by the tornado, Corvida was angry that her playhouse was in Nikki Fernandez’s garden! The playhouse was hers, not Nikki’s and she was going to make sure that Nikki did not step one foot in her lovely little house.

The thunder clapped against the sky, sounding like thousands of galloping horses. There was no sign of human life except for the truck and luxury horse trailer that zoomed by. Hard rain hit the trailer, making loud thuds against it's rusted metal. A young teenager with brown curly hair, freckles, and blue eyes sat in the back seat of the red truck. The girl glanced at the camper/trailer behind them and sighed.

“Hurricane Ike is churning in the Gulf of Mexico and is heading straight for Galveston Island. It will be making landfall within hours, and wind gusts are already packing up to 110 mph,” announced the meteorologist on ABC news. I could not believe that a storm ould be approaching. It was a beautiful, hot day on Galveston Island. However, the water rose suddenly and rushed over the curbs, flooding the streets. The storm and its potential for devastation was becoming a reality.

In the beginning, the man describes that his daughter shouldn’t be out his late alone. “My daughter is walking along the roadside late at night-- too late, really, for a seventeen-year-old to be out alone… and it is raining.” This shows that the man really cares for his daughter and wouldn’t want anything to happen to her. Another detail, describes the man a way that his daughter could get “... the streets slick with a fine immiscible glaze of water and petrochemicals, so that even a driver in full possession of her faculties… before she got behind the wheel of a car… and shrubbery off the sidewalk.” This shows, the dad imagines all these horrible things that could happen to his daughter. He then relates it if it were to happen and the news hitting him like a meteor.

It had been raining intermittently for the past four days and by late Saturday afternoon, another storm was approaching the rural southern town of Wrongberight. Clemmy Sue Jarvis since birth has lived in the town and had a simple philosophy concerning weather. As long as she was six feet above ground instead of six feet below, she did not care what it was. Today as she lifts her petite frame into her rusty Ford pickup, she is preoccupied with what she hopes to accomplish this evening. Absorbed in though she pulls out of her driveway and heads south on Flat Bottom Road along the edge the Dismal Swamp towards the isolated home of her dearest friend Estelle

It is pretty strange when Tretheway has not been ridden out the storm at that time, yet her ability to extend that empathy to the local residents is undeniable. Thetheway refacts all the deaths and “bodies washed away” (65) through the lens of witnesses – her family and the whole community – with emotional depth and

“Storm Country” by Paul Crenshaw is about his own childhood growing up in Arkansas which is in the heart of tornado alley (Crenshaw, 2004, pg. 203). He explains his encounters with tornadoes and the memories that this remarkable but destructive storm left. Paul Crenshaw explained his story about a tornado in a descriptive way which gave life and meaning with every sentence. After I was done reading I started to think about my own experiences with storm watching during the day and even at night. I agreed with every point he made about the mesmerizing moment of when a storm hits by relating it with my own points about storms.

The mighty winds whistled through, the glass panes shook, and all of a sudden a tree branch fell near my window. Was this a dream or a reality, I do not know. Rubbing my eyes, I got off the bed and moved towards the kitchen. I looked outside and my backyard was like a war zone. The trash cans were flipped over, tree branches and lots of leaf had fallen in the yard. I did not dare to step outside. Yes, I was NOT dreaming, the Hurricane Gustav had really struck Baton Rouge. This happened in 2008, but I can vividly remember how scared how was, and the destruction the storm had caused. with mighty winds and torrential downpour struck Baton Rouge in 2008.

“Mama, cover doors and windows. Everyone go to the bedroom, and put your masks on,” I directed, calmly. When I got to the bedroom, everyone was huddled around each other, with a white cloth on their face. Suddenly, the room became dark. You could hear the heavy breathing of everyone in the room, yet you couldn’t see anyone. The storm felt like it lasted for days, but only really lasted a few minutes. When I got back to the dining room table, I saw a letter on the table from the bank.

South Florida is particularly vulnerable to the effects of major hurricanes. The sub-tropical weather places the region directly in the historical path of seasonal storms. The area has faced repeated battering by major storms over the decades (Blake, Landsea, Gibney, & I.M. Systems Group, August 2011). Furthermore, the geographic location and the constraints of being located on a peninsula create unique and difficult challenges for the population during these events. The millions of people that live from Okeechobee Lake to Key West are vulnerable to the destruction capable by a major hurricane. Emergency responders must be prepared to deal with these issues when planning and responding to large scale events.