HUNKERING, GIRDING, BRACING FOR IKE

The forecast now has Hurricane Ike not being much of a threat to South Florida. But here in Miami, the untiring guys 'n' gals in the Channel Seven All-Hurricane-All-The-Time TV News FearPlex, who have been whipping themselves into a frenzy since Friday, are still clinging to the hope that we will somehow be affected. Just now, the hoarse-voiced weatherperson warned us not to let our guard down, because we will almost definitely experience "very breezy conditions."

Meanwhile, the actual humans here are girding and bracing for the Dolphins-Jets game.

Comments

[Recovering 24 Addict]

Well you do have Hurrican Favre to worry about so you dont have to feel totally left out.

[Recovering 24 Addict]

throws an "e" up to myself

[Jeff Tompkins]

We just went through the same thing here (Charleston, SC) with hurricane...tropical storm...heavy rain storm Hanna. It was clear by 9pm Friday night that we were going to avoid the worst of the storm, but it wasn't until nearly 1am that the TV weather dudes said we "should be OK for the rest of the night," as one put it. No kidding.

[Davec]

Don't try to go to Home Despot, they are selling all the plywood and batteries they have in stock.

And the lines at Publix are getting longer. Just out of curiosity, what do people do with 34 loaves of bread and ten gallons of water? I guess nobody knows about filling the bath tub.

You might think that hurricanes were a rare occurance in Miami.

[Moon]

The most annoying part in Chicago is that every time it rains, on comes the beeping, beeping, beeping storm warning. Everything from a spring shower to a horrible thunderstorm REQUIRES the local tv channels to issue this annoying warning. And it goes on and on. Let's face it, we don't have a lot of dramatic weather here in Chicago. But you wouldn't know that from watching the local tv stations. Sheesh.

Barack is telling us how he going to save the world and BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP - IT'S GOING TO RAIN!!

/Then I lose all the cable channels because of our stupid satellite company and I have a choice between BEEP BEEP BEEP and "Searching for channel".

[WriterDude]

So Hurricane Ike will almost completely miss south Florida. Must be taking a cue from the orange/green Hurricanes, who yesterday completely missed the end zone.

(Sorry, Dave, I couldn't resist. Here's hoping that the 'canes and the 'fins do better this year.)

[Siouxie, hunkering outside the cone of death]

Good afternoon...

I am waiting for the killer breeze to get here before I got to Publix. I'm almost out of wine and bleach. And yes, Dave. I've been watching channel 7 too - for entertainment mostly.

[emkay]

Cal: 66
Washington State: 3

Yesterday was a very good day.

[oneblankspace]

Packer Plus is reporting that Deanna Favre and daughters will be in the stands for the game (not a luxury suite).

[frodolives]

But Bush will be blamed for those "very breezy conditions..." (as IF he was running for anything!!!)

[Guin]

Note to Floridians: Please stop sending us your left-over hurricanes. We have plenty of rain already. Thank you.

(*hopes Siouxie hasn't been mixing wine and bleach together*)

[queensbee]

our scaaaaary weather people interrupt important programming to tell us about hurricanes in other places, since we dont get em too much here in upstate ny. they act sad when we DONT have a weather event. what is wrong with these people? we do have blizzards in winter. but they interrupt programming to tell us when we will have a 2 inch snow storm, because you NEVER know. and that's why i watch cspan.

[frodolives]

WD, gonna' tune in on the game this afternoon? They've GOT to put this one away... Only 5 games back with like, 21 games to go? Not out of the realm of POSSIBILITY, but out of the realm of PROBABILITY? You can't end every season 14 of 15... But 14 of 21 is doable... especially if they sweep, or even take two of three from the two series against the Snakes, and sweep or take two of three against the Dodgers... Tall order, but doable... GO ROX!!!

[Margaritaville]

"Very breezey conditions" sounds like Miami in general. Don't they have thunderstorms at the drop of a hat that are more serious than that? Anyway, glad to hear it's only going to breeze by!

[Siouxie, hunkering outside the cone of death]

Guin, thankfully I haven't been drunk enough to mix the two. Yet.

[frodolives]

Sorry, bloglits, should have included the /OT tag to previous post...

[frodolives]

Siouxie, you STILL "hunkering"?

[Jeff Meyerson]

Jeff T. - we got the "remnants" of Hanna yesterday with up to 6.5 inches of rain in the NY area (3.3 inches in Central Park). But it was very far below "very breezy" conditions, just extremely wet.

Siouxie, we've been wondering and perhaps as a Floridian you know (or can make up) the answer: when did the (so-called) "cone of death uncertainty" get invented as I don't remember it ever being mentioned before this year.

Signed,

Perplexed up NOrth

[daisymae]

snork @ Dave's Channel 7....Fearplex

It's like this every August - November...there's a mass hurricane psychosis that takes over. People sit in front of the TV watching the map as whatever storm-of-the-moment inches closer. Like watching a trainwreck in slow motion except slower.

[NotSoShyJan]

Hey, another Cal fan! Go Bears!

Aren't the hurricanes/tropical storms/breezy weathers all done in mid-October? (The correct answer to this question is yes, by the way.)

[Siouxie, hunkering outside the cone of death]

Jeff, ever since I remember, it used to be called the "cone of error" but a couple of years ago, the local morning radio DJs that judi and I listen to started referring to it as the "cone of death". They even recorded a CD with that phrase. That's the first time I heard it and have stolen borrowed it ever since. I think the "cone of uncertainty" is fairly new and probably better sounding than "error" (which is not very reassuring).

[maxwell smart]

Siouxie, It's the CONE OF SILENCE!!!

[Recovering 24 Addict]

emkay all of us UW fans thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now we have a ref to kill.

[emkay]

24 - don't forget the spice rub! I hear that's the "new" tar & feathering...

[emkay]

24 - I didn't mean to gloat. It's just that Cal is so good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (we came close to doing that with Michigan St. last week), that I tend to get a little giddy when they win by more than 7.

[Libertarian Jim]

Global warming. Myth, or fact? Here are our scenarios, depending on the answer to that question: The ice caps melt, & Al Gore assumes chairmanship of the United Nations. How will it affect our lives? 1. We will learn to cope with new realities, such as: having to pass through a few hundred thousand metric tons of water on way to work each day. 2. Al Gore becomes more of a nuisance.

Analysis: 2. considerably more impacting on our day-to-day lives.

Outcome: Either one grows gills & starts to resemble Gibs. in Waterworld, or one finds another way to avoid Al Gore. In which case, you might be needing one of these:

http://www.miniaturesubmarine.blogspot.com/

It will be a grim new world. In an eerily familiar kind of way.

[Annie Where-but-here]

too bad we can't warm the earth just enough so the water covered all the sp@mmers.

[Steve]

You have to wonder how much more urgent they can make it seem when there is a real threat from a storm that is actually about to hit here.

I am conflicted by their whipping up a sense of urgency for every little thing. On the one hand, the publicity helps to increase awareness of the potential danger, and so may increase safety and preparations. On the other hand, crying wolf too many times may cause some people not to act when action is actually needed.

I'm sure we all realize that the false frenzy is really just about ratings. But even that can backfire. I don't watch that channel any more, because of their frequent over-reaction. I am sure some other news sources have adequate information for me to make informed decisions and timely actions.

[Siouxie, hunkering outside the cone of death]

Steve, if you've lived in South Florida for a while, you can pretty much figure out what to do and when. I don't need these people telling me when to go to Publix and what to get when I'm there. I just KNOW. And I also know when to close my accordion shutters. I just watch it for the entertainment factor. For the REAL hurricane news I watch channel 10. They've got Max Mayfield as an advisor and as you know, he was the head of the hurricane center for years. With Bryan Norcross gone, that's who I trust. (again, with a grain of salt)

[emkay]

Siouxie, don't you need more than a grain of salt for the rim of your margarita? Am I going to have to worry about your ability to ride out the storm with adequate supplies?

[Siouxie, hunkering outside the cone of death]

Awww..emkay! that's sweet of you to worry. Trust me, I have got PLENTY of grains of salt and other such supplies ;-)

[WayneHere]

Here in Philly, when a storm comes, we all go out and buy milk, eggs, and bread. As a local comentator once said, "What, everybody sits home and has French Toast for 4 days?"

[Kris]

Don't forget the kitty litter and TP - we always need that for blizzards in Washington.

[Allen at Division]

That's "Jet Farvre and the New York Brets"...