There's a Killer on the Road

Hurricane Irma was such an event.  I spent my day off monitoring and projecting it's route and following the news, even turning on television for the first time in many months.  The constant state of anxiety was slightly addictive but I had real friends and family in it's path so considering the possible realities for them trumped any excitement that this huge, unusual storm brought with it.

But outside of the devastation you'd be crazy not to be interested in it's size and the way it kept its eye-wall so in tact.  This was a Hollywood hurricane in graphic.  Then the way it sucked up all the water miles before hitting, even in the rivers!  That's a new one.  And I'd bet those meteorologists that said, its not unusual had not seen that before in their lifetime.  I've heard of it happening with a tsunami but not a hurricane.  And what happened to the 15 foot surge?  Not that we wanted it.  It was a huge blessing it didn't happen.  But why did Marco Island not get that massive surge on the back end and how did that tiny haven survive a Category 3 hurricane direct hit without much damage?

The other intriguing matter was where the storm would land and I don't believe any model was correct even up to the moment it hit Marco Island.  I remember looking at the radar and seeing a westward shift but they kept saying it would veer left and hug the coast.  Days before I prayed my sister would drive to the gulf side to avoid it as it was projected to hit the East Coast.  Thank goodness she has more sense and experience with these things. Then the prediction went to straight up the center.  In the end, even after landfall they were wrong as it went more inland instead of up to Tampa where they were set up live already planting the fear of worst case scenarios with every bit of certainty even though nothing so far had been accurate.  I think this time they really did believe it would be catastrophic, and it was for some.  But with all the money involved and the seriousness of the situation I think we can all agree almost everything needs to change with the way news outlets handle this new extreme weather phenomena.

I handled dinner with a sense of urgency by the time everything settled down.  I had to make chicken thighs happen so I did a quick braise with whole tomatoes, garlic, olives, artichoke hearts and oregano over Polenta.