I was born in south Florida -#@&^ years ago. My parents were born there as well. In those times, part of being a Florida resident was knowing, without being told every 30 minutes, how to prepare and deal with hurricanes.

       The Weather Has Got Me Down!

      I was born in south Florida -#@&^ years ago. My parents were born there as well. In those times, part of being a Florida resident was knowing, without being told every 30 minutes, how to prepare and deal with hurricanes. We actually knew and understood that power might fail. We actually knew to bring lawn furniture, garbage cans and such like in out of the wind. We actually knew that we might need water. There was no such thing as bottled water. We actually sterilized our bathtubs with chlorine and then filled the tubs with fresh water. We actually knew that batteries, a portable radio, canned goods and a supply of gasoline were good ideas! We never knew the exact track of a storm…we just knew it was on the way and that we should be ready! We knew that flooding was a possibility in low lying areas and by golly we knew that DUCT tape was not DUCK tape and was totally useless in a storm unless you wanted sticky glue all over your windows when the storm passed. MOST OF ALL…WE KNEW TO COME IN OUT OF THE WIND AND RAIN!!!!!!!!! We all actually own rain gear. Most of us use it only when we need it.

      For the past several days I’ve watched and listened to the press warn me about the EXACT approach of tropical storm Fay. They have reminded me of circus barkers or people who are trying to inject some meaning into their job description. This morning I got to watch what is now the obligatory, knucklehead weather reporter….standing on the beach in a downpour with a microphone and rain hood blowing about her head and shoulders (a good way to loose and eye). She actually tried to interview some young surfers and impress upon them the dangers of being out there. I thought my mind was playing tricks.

They were probably there because they saw her out there last hurricane season leaning into the wind and thought they’d be fine. If flying lawn chairs can’t hurt weather folks, I guess surfers are safe as well.     

      This afternoon, as I returned home from errands down town, I spotted a news truck from an Orlando TV station on the causeway at Titusville. They were filming another weather knucklehead standing next to a slightly vibrating speed limit sign. The wind that she was leaning into was less than 30 miles per hour. She was very obviously leaning for the benefit of the camera (I know….I’ve been around cameras). Tonight, some affiliate station in Milwaukee will air the footage and people there will be calling their parents in Florida to see if they’ve been blown off the planet…by 30 mile per hour winds.

      This coming winter, a weather knucklehead  there will be doing a similar report on a six-inch snowfall…comparing it to a nuclear bomb blast.

      I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see a return to the days when weather was actually a function of Mother Nature….not channel six! A return to a time when the peeling off of a 40-year-old mobile home roof by 30-knot breezes was not attributed to phantom tornados…a time when irresponsible, sensationalistic reporting of weather events does not panic and later desensitize the public to real, honest weather threats. Why is standing in the wind and rain, pointing to eroded sand that was trucked in last year, considered newsworthy. Puddles in the front yard do not constitute flooding!! Two or even three feet of rainwater, in low lying areas is simply not a flood! It’s unfortunate that people chose to build or live there. Ask folks along the Mississippi what flooding is all about.

      I guess it’s not the weather that’s got me down. It’s the weathermen!  Like our congressmen, let’s not reelect them!