We've Done It!

We've broken the record set in 1933 for the most hurricanes in one season. Tropical Storm Alpha, the first system using a name from the Greek alphabet, has officially formed in the Atlantic. We ran out of names with Wilma, which will be the eighth storm to hit Florida in 14 months.

A scary possibility has emerged. This is from a weather blog:

The GFDL model is calling for an interesting development. It wants TD25 to strengthen into Category 3 Hurricane Alpha east of the Bahamas. Then once Wilma crosses Florida, it merges the two storms over the Gulf Stream, tracks them up the coast, and places a Cat 2 hurricane off Cape Cod. Food for thought!

And here I sit, grateful and sorry at the same time, for the disaster that has befallen the Yucatan Peninsula. Why do these horrible storms force us to prefer someone else's suffering to our own? Now we await the inevitable, winds even stronger than Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne from last year. The cars are gassed up, money withdrawn from the ATM, water, ice, batteries and cans of tuna stocked. Tomorrow the shutters go down, plants brought in, outdoor cats put in the laundry room (they're sprayers...can't come in the house). Now we wait for this thing to pass, like a huge gallstone. Thank God for beer.