Our place on the beach in Mexico is in an area that hurricanes sometimes visit. When a hurricane is forming it is tracked for days. The last hurricanes in the Yucatan were in 2005, when one battered Cancun, 80 km to the north, and another made land near Chetumal about three hours drive to the south of us. There were some storm surges that affected Paamul, a few of the older, smaller palapas were damaged and some roof repair was required. Hurricanes which form over the ocean are followed for days, and their paths are forecast with enough time for people to batten down the hatches and get in a vehicle and generally avoid them.
However, tornadoes (twisters) are different. I’m no expert on the whole meteorological thing, but from what I see, twisters happen here and there as storms pass over wide inland areas where people live and rvers like us travel. Tornadoes form quickly and within minutes are creating havoc, with their paths having little predicable pattern. However, they are usually small in dimension and (we cross our fingers) they won’t find us.
When we left Texas a week ago as there was some heavy weather in the forecast. As we drove through Arkansas, we heard that there were storms behind us. When we stopped in Nashville we had a few nervous days as it rained hard for periods but the worst passed to the north and the south of us. Then as we headed further east in bright sunshine, we heard the news reports of the massive destruction that has raged through wide swaths of the US southeast.
The next morning we drove from Tennessee into Virginia and we saw first-hand some of the destruction. The news showed pictures of whole flattened neighborhoods and a death toll reaching 340! Ayee!
Sometimes I think we’re the Blessed Irish...
“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields...”
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