The Storm that Would NOT Go Away

The Storm that Would NOT Go Away

By Myles L. Edmundson



Hello reader,



         I know, a rather unusual opening to an editorial commentary.  If you have read my previous editorial commentaries, you know that I usually embark straight into the subject of the editorial.  After a brief introduction in which I attempt to grab your attention with some mentioning of the subject of the editorial, I proceed to deliver my opinion on a subject that I find rather aggravating, such as frivolous lawsuits.  However, this editorial is about a subject that numerous people on the East Coast of the United States experienced...Hurricane Irene.

         Hurricane Irene blew up into a category three hurricane in the central Atlantic Ocean, drawing power from the warm water near the equator.  As a massive tropical storm, Irene moved toward the Bahamas at a modest speed of 14 miles per hour.  The storm continued with the unstoppable relentlessness of an out of control express train.  When she plowed through the Bahamas, Irene was a only a category one hurricane.  When she passed the Bahamas and rampaged on toward Florida, there was a palpable anticipation and apprehension as to where Irene would go.  Would she enter the Gulf of Mexico?  Would she turn and rampage up the east coast?  Ultimately she turned and rampaged up the east coast of the United States.  There were three other states (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina) that could have been hit.  Irene set her sights on North Carolina.  As North Carolina prepared herself for the hit from Hurricane Irene, the storm moved on, relentless, single minded, determined.

         Hurricane Irene began pounding North Carolina in the small hours of the early morning, as her first, outer most rain bands touched the coast of the Tar Heel State.  Over the course of the next eighteen hours, Irene rolled over the east coast of North Carolina with the relentlessness of the aforementioned out of control express train, but with the speed of the proverbial glacier.  She did not rampage and rush across the state as many other hurricanes did, damaging and destroying many things in a short time.  Irene took her time.  She crawled across North Carolina like a steam roller.  She flooded, she destroyed, and she even killed (God rest the souls of those that died as a result, direct or indirect, of Hurricane Irene).

         As one who lived through Hurricane Irene, I was effectively trapped in my own home.  Trapped, not by damage, not by debris, trapped by fear.  I feared for my own safety.  I feared for my wife's safety.  I feared that should I step outside my house, even to go to work (and I had been scheduled to work on the day Irene crawled across North Carolina), I would suffer terrible consequences.  Thus I permitted my own instinct of self preservation to prevail.  I called my boss, and informed him that I did not feel safe coming to work.  I told him that I owned a car that was light weight, and feared that should I try to drive to work, my car would be picked up by a wind gust and both the car and I would not survive the end results.  My boss was understanding, and wished me to remain safe.  Thus, I remained in my house.  I comforted my wife, and together we watched the television news, as the newscasters (some of them standing in the path of the storm) told us again and again what Irene was doing.  When the power went out, my wife and I lit candles and played board games, while we continued to listen to the news on a battery powered radio.

         We were among the fortunate ones to regain our power the same day.  I fear others in North Carolina were not so fortunate.  As I write this editorial, I think of all my fellow North Carolinians who are still awaiting the restoration of their home electricity.  And when Irene was through with North Carolina, she turned her sights on New England.  I admit that I stopped watching the news.  I felt that the time had come to let go of that terrible storm, she hit my home, and moved on.  I prayed for the people that were still in Irene's path, and hoped that the storm that would NOT go away would weaken as she crawled north toward the Big Apple and other cities and towns north of my home.  The last I heard of Irene was a news cast this morning (August 28th, 2011) that indicated that Irene had weakened back into a tropical storm.  Not quite as dangerous as she was when she hit North Carolina, but still a danger, for even a common thunderstorm can kill.  I am fairly certain that by the time I finish this editorial, send it to my editor (my dear friend Glenda on Writing Dot Com), and post it for you (dear reader) to read, there will be nothing left of Hurricane Irene except unpleasant memories. 

         We all have fears.  The measure of a man is not whether he has fears or not, it is whether he can face his fears and continue to act in spite of the fact that he is afraid.  And yet, there are times when a man must realize that his fears are justified, and he must cower away from forces far greater than himself, and quite willing and able to do him harm without the slightest thought about his life and doings.  Hurricane Irene was one such force.  She was a storm, a force of nature.  She had no mind, now will.  She did not destroy because she was an evil thing, seeking to destroy and kill.  She was simply a blind, mindless force of nature, doing what natural things do, without regard for we humans, our things, our constructions, and our doings.  And we humans, when faced with the awesome power of nature can do nothing but tie down our belongings, board up our windows, bolt our doors, and pray that God (whomever or whatever you believe him to be) permits you the small favor of allowing you to live through the storm.  As one who lived through the storm, I thank God for sparing my life and my wife's life.  I rejoice that my home did not suffer any damage, and that North Carolina did not suffer any wounds that she can not recover from.  Certainly the Tar Heel state is right now bruised and bleeding.  She has scrapes and scratches from Irene, but she will recover.  She will heal and go on about her life ans a living state of the United States.  There will be other hurricanes.  Some of them will seem to be common thunderstorms compared to Irene, and others will be far more terrible and destructive than Irene could ever hope to have been.  But for the storm that would NOT go away, all I have left to say is this.  THANK GOD IT'S OVER!

         I thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to read this editorial, and at least contemplating my thoughts on this matter.



Myles L. Edmundson

Written on the afternoon of August 28th, 2011, The day following the strike of Hurricane Irene on the North Carolina coast.