As I write this, Hurricane Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico headed toward the Big Bend of Florida with predictions that it will make landfall there and head north cutting a wide swatch through Georgia. We are already getting some rain here on St. Simons and are bracing for serious winds and a deluge by tomorrow. The schools are closed and routine meetings and business postponed.
Hurricanes are still relatively new for me, and I don’t like them. Since moving to the southeast coast of Georgia, I’ve increasingly experienced the hurricane cycle. First there is the watch as tropical storms develop in the Atlantic or the Caribbean and become hurricanes. These are named and tracked for days as they move about, identifying their strength and potential landfall. Soon weather experts start issuing warnings about what to do to save lives and protect property. It’s a well rehearsed scenario that has played out so often that it inevitably sounds like “crying wolf.” Frequently, locals say “ho-hum” and go on with their routines with the exception of swamping the supermarkets to buy bottled water, flashlight batteries, food and toilet paper.
Fortunately, St Simons Island, due to its location as the western most point of the eastern seaboard, generally escapes being hit head-on by hurricanes – many ricochet off Florida and bypass the island as they head north to the Carolinas.* Others hit the west coast of Florida or the gulf coast and head north through central Georgia. Still each hurricane threatens the island with destruction, bringing downed trees and flooding of homes and businesses. For most of us, it means stocking up on essentials and battening down vulnerable possessions, including finding a safe place for cars and trucks. Rain and salt water are not good for houses, swimming pools or vehicles.
What strikes me as strange is that, relatively speaking, little has been done over the many years to change the pattern of big wind and rain, destruction and repair and rebuilding.The truth is that when there is a lull in storms for a few years, people become complacent and forget. Houses and businesses are still built in risky locations with too few changes in construction. And more and more people move to the coast, adding to the congestion and raising the potential for damage and loss of life. I’m amazed that people continue to put up with this. I understand that for those who grew up here, this is home, but what about the many people who are moving to St. Simons and similar coastal locations? How many times do they want to put up plywood, pump out their first floors and rebuild damaged property?
We are fortunate to live in a four story modern building with the first floor an open garage. Storm damage is usually limited to cleaning up downed limbs and debris. Just the same, it is unsettling enough that I question the sense of it. In the meantime, I’m grateful that I am not on the gulf coast or in Florida where the devastation destroys whole neighborhoods and threatens lives repeatedly from June through November each year.