I'm kind of preoccupied with Hurricane Matthew right now. I have friends and relatives on the east coast of Florida — I think of commenter Notes from Abroad who just moved to Jacksonville — and my home town, Morehead City in North Carolina, is vulnerable to the storm too. For right now, the forecast is for Matthew to turn out to sea before it reaches the central N.C. coast, but that can change. My mother, sister, and many relatives and friends still live in Morehead.
Meanwhile, the weather here in Saint-Aignan is kind of surreal. We're still in this long dry spell. There are very few windy days. Skies are crystal clear much of the time. Temperatures at sunrise are in the low 40s in ºF — around 5ºC — which feels really cold.
Clear skies are to blame for the frigid-feeling mornings. Yesterday I went out for the walk with the dog and I regretted that I hadn't put on gloves and a hat. I cut the walk short because it was uncomfortable. I'm not sure I'm ready for winter weather. It seems like it was summer just a few days ago.
It is very cold in Poland too
ReplyDeleteLatest from Auntie Beeb is that Matthew has been downgraded to a 3....
ReplyDeletewhich looking at their pictogram still looks pretty devastating....
seems very nasty.... but US strikes me as well prepared for these regular occurences....
but everything seems to be getting very extreme these days.
Hope your family and friends ride it out safely...
The east coast of Florida, north of Miami up to Jacksonville, last had a storm similar to this one in 1950. Can you imagine how much building and development there has been in 66 years? Also, with rising sea levels, the danger of flooding is real.
DeleteI have a friend who lives in south Florida, on the west coast. She joked once that whenever a hurricane menaced, she and her friends would say: "Well, let's hope it hits North Carolina and spares us..."
Managing megacities: While people point to cities as centers of pollution and problems, in fact city dwellers pollute less than those who live in the countryside, thanks to factors like smaller homes and public transportation. Keeping cities liveable and improving their environmental footprints is a challenge in the face of rapid growth. We look at what different cities are doing.
ReplyDeleteI keep my fingers crossed for your mother, family and friends.
ReplyDeleteWas thinking of you and your NC family when I was watching the news last night. After what has been happening in the caribbean islands, the hurricane has not lost its intensity. Hope they are safe because even at a cat. 3 the gust is very strong and roofs can be 'peeled off" easily .
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the cyclones I had experienced when I was a child on the island. My grand-mother had a sun room above the open verandah and there was no way to protect it. The dynamic pressure caused by the wind was enough to break the glass panels ( they were just plain glass - not the sturdy type we have today).
There is always the danger of high winds or, worse, a tornado, which can be spawned by the hurricane. My great-grandparents' house in Morehead City was destroyed in hurricane 50 or 60 years ago, and by a localized tornado. Cousins of my parents were living there at the time and they were lucky to escape with their lives.
DeleteI'm thinking of MA and your family. Our friend Linda's cousin's who live on St Simon's Island are sheltering with her in Tallahassee.
ReplyDeleteI think that was smart of Linda's cousins to get off the island and go farther west. Saint Simon's Island is right in the path of the storm. I think MA and family will be fine but there's always that thought that maybe the forecasts are wrong in this case and the storm will go farther north than predicted. I'm just trying to stay informed.
DeleteScary, these hurricane times. Hoping for the best for you friends, and your family.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judy. Most likely, all will be fine, but you never know.
DeleteThe hurricane images on the news are stunning. Wishing safety for your friends and family, and for the all the others in Matthew's path, including animals.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm seeing this morning, French time, is even more impressive and disturbing. Just as in Haiti, the extent of the damage along the U.S. southeast coast won't be known for a few days.
DeleteThis is quite off topic, but I wondered if you have heard or read of the project to reconstruct the sounds of Paris in 1739. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-18th-century-paris-sounded-180960724/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't heard of that. Thanks for the link.
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