The Witch of November

“The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T’was the witch of November come stealing”

Gordon Lightfoot-Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Hurricane Gustav in Morgan City, La.

I stayed home for Tropical Storm Ida because Ida came our way.   While it was a weak storm, it was ironic how I cursed the inconveniences that rode in with the storm.  Off and on signal reception for my XM radio was the main complaint.

Normally, when covering hurricanes, the inconveniences include much more serious things such as lack of food, water, gasoline, smell of death, snakes, looters,nails etc.

I’ll take the spotty  XM radio reception any day.

A man searches where 30 of his neighbors perished in Hurricane Katrina

Having covered 16 hurricanes and tropical storms since 1981,  I did miss the constant pounding of adrenaline brought on by the combination of 100 mph plus winds, storm surge, 100 plus mph flying stop signs among the other airborne missiles.  Against those standards Tropical Storm Ida did not measure up.

Guarding against looters during Hurricane Gustav in Houma, La

Unfortunately I’m sure I will cover more tropical cyclones before my race is run and as long as there is a medium to carry the message, there will be a need to show the heart wrenching realities that  natural disasters slap on the victims before, during and after the storm.

Listening to:  Ingrid Michaelson – Maybe