As a natural-born angler and weather junkie who has lived in southern coastal Florida since the age of two, I've been through more hurricanes than I care to remember. Yet in cruel defiance of the psychological maxim that repeated exposure to a feared object or situation leads to increased comfort, my emotions run quite predictably to "deer in the headlights" mode when Miami- my perennial home- finds itself in the storm's trajectory. I can boast to inlanders from the Americas or Europe that I'm a real storm veteran, but the anxiety is still there.
My guess regarding the lack of symptomatic improvement is that major hurricanes- the freight train sounds, the horizontal rain whiteouts, the sounds and sights of buildings (human nests) shaking and breaking for 24 hours or more create some emotional scar tissue. Then, after the storm passes, there's always the white-knuckled ritual of opening the front door-if you can- to see what' s there or not. After Hurricane Andrew, my front yard was so decimated and topsy turvy, I felt that the world outside was savaged by an angry god under the drunken influence of smoking too many Picasso paintings.
The social structures have gotten far worse since the fifties. There are tons more people that have settled from all over the Americas, Caribbean, and the Slavic countries into coastal Dade-Broward. Those amongst them who have no hurricane experience are the first ones to panic and form long and premature lines at gas stations, ATM's, lumber and food stores. When governors wax hyperbolous about cat. 3 'canes being "storms of the century", "mother of all storms", and "major disasters", they do more harm than good. Why not simply say what actual preps need to be in place and nothing more? The TV media with their inevitable wind-blown, foul-weather gear toting reporters position themselves on a beach awaiting a tropical storm like it's Armageddon also create unnecessary panic and obsession.
I'm glad NOAA has gotten the prediction side of it well-mastered, but too few Floridians check out their web site and rely on Nielsen rating-driven knuckleheads and their lamentations and storm shelter visits rather than avail themselves of NOAA's sweet science. Those stations that pulled in Max Mayfield for periodic status reports redeemed themselves with me.
So here's that bit of a rant, but I guess compared to earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and long shut-in winters with lots of cabin blues and no fishing, I'll take my seasonal medicine, wince awhile, and when the aftertaste fades, be grateful it's just another day in paradise.
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
http://www.JanMaizler-psychotherapist.blogspot.com
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