Landfall cones, spaghetti models roil the stomach

Throughout my childhood, I have recollections of hurricane seasons. It was the one period of the year where we seemed to watch the weather all the time, looking for warning signs.

My mom would become like a meteorologist, hawk-eyed for any disturbances, and begin the prayers. It was something I figured she had inherited from my great-grandmother, who had gone through Camille.

The desire for preparedness and the anxiety of hurricane season were passed on from generation to generation.

Now, as I watch social media, I see the same anxieties and fears. These are the adults who lived through Katrina – teenagers who had evacuated 15 years ago, now adults with families of their own.

Monitoring the latest spaghetti models and sharing the cones of destruction, social media allows not only the sharing of information but also the sharing of emotion and community facing the possibility of another disastrous hurricane.

It’s not a desire for preparedness, I realize. It’s an effect of the trauma experienced when you return to a neighborhood that no longer looks as you remembered it. It’s a concern raised by anyone who has undergone the catastrophic damages of a natural disaster.

I live in Alabama now. I don’t closely monitor the weather because I don’t live along the coast. As the storms strengthen, I watch and wait: Where is it heading? Is it heading to New Orleans?

This time, with Hurricane Sally, I watched as it turned toward my current home state. I have fond memories of Mobile – that’s where I completed my undergraduate studies and met my husband. My social media feeds are equal parts Louisiana, Alabama and Missouri.

On the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 16, I scanned social media and saw the effects of the storm on friends and family – not only watching for their safety but also reading their anxieties and fears as the rain pounded and the wind whipped and thrashed outside, tearing down limbs and branches.

At the same time, I listened to the increasing rain and wind outside of my own home and sent an email to my students, reassuring them that I recognized the possibility of a power outage and would be holding no one accountable for our online courses that day. A few students responded back – it’s just going to be rain and wind, they said, nothing to be worried about. These are students who have never experienced the wrath of a true hurricane, only the outskirts, I thought.

Only then did I realize that it was that very mindset that was likely experienced nationally by those who were only minimally aware of the destruction of these storms. Why has there been limited coverage of Hurricane Laura and its destruction to southwest Louisiana and the Louisiana-Texas border? What will the coverage look like for a significantly weaker storm like Hurricane Sally, despite the destruction it caused on the Florida panhandle and southern Alabama?

Hurricane season 2020 is ongoing, with more threats to come. As we continue praying for the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, continue also to keep an eye on our neighbors – those who continue to suffer the devastating effects of the most recent storms and those to come.

We New Orleanians know what this is like, and we understand the long-lasting effects to come.

hbozantwitcher@clarionherald.org