September 21, 2005

In the Path of the Storm

Treacherous Shores- estimated ground zero for Hurricane Jova, 550 miles southeast of Hilo as of 7 am HST 9-21-05 photo taken at Seaview near Kapoho Big Island


It was a brilliant Sunday afternoon, the sun sparkled on the water as Woody and I inspected homes on the gulf shore side of Galveston Island. Some were newer, on concrete pilings, like the homes on Kauaii in the Hanalei flood zone... but most were on wooden post and pier, yes they were 20-25 feet off the sand but...

I couldnt get excited about it, not one home intrigued me enough to call the agent back... There was something about it... The flatness of the island, the lack of trees... The water was so warm, and then there was the history...1900 20,000 people dead, what was called the "New York of the Gulf" back then was scoured off the map...

I found myself thinking about this as I walked the streets of the town and looked at the crumbling infrastructure. I felt like I was standing in a graveyard and we decided that we were going to Arkansas for sure... As lovely as it was we never looked back.

Again I kiss the rocky soil of Benton County and thank God we are here. We are concerned about family and friends in the path of this monster storm, and are praying that all is well.

In our former home, we are reasonably sure that hurricane Jova is not going to actualy hit Hilo...but... you never know. No one is preparing according to what I have been reading. There is nothing stopping Jova from crahing into the Big Island but its not thought to be a possibility by the locals...

One should never underestimate these incredible forces of nature....

My heart goes out to those who are leaving all they own behind and evacuating. I have been following evac plans via Laurence Simon's blog, and one of his Hurricane links the blog "Smoke On The Water " tells the haunting tale of the preparations being made by one man for his family of cats and his beloved sloop, the "New Dawn". CNN is said to be picking up the story.

I see only one bright spot in all of this mess, North West Arkansas which has been suffering under terrible drought and heat is is the path of the heavy rains that should follow Rita. The green fields that will come in the aftermath of the storm will be a blessing...