It’s been hard to not watch the coming of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath over the last few days. Locally, we pretty much dodged the worst of the storm, mainly suffering through some strong winds though not as damaging as we had feared. But it’s been sad to see how Sandy has affected the coast here in the Northeast. I know that it doesn’t in any way rival the devastation of Katrina, thankfully, but its been hard to see how much damage has been inflicted on regions that are so familiar. Maybe it is the fact that this type of destruction is so uncommon in these areas that makes it so startling. I don’t know. Time will soon tell if this is indeed the result of climate change and unusual storms like Sandy will become more and more common. Our Governor Cuomo here in NY commented recently about how 100 year floods now seem to come every 2 years.
Ah, the wrath of Mother Earth.
Here’s a little music that warns about taking our relationship with Mother Earth too lightly. First recorded by cult rockers Sparks in their Glam phase in the 70’s, Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth, is covered here by my favorite, Neko Case.
Redtree Times 
We always tend to take the short view, and the history of storms is instructive. The live oaks that were planted after Galveston’s Great Storm of 1900 were taken out by Ike, and the ones we planted will no doubt meet a similar fate sometime in the future. I’m not as quick as some to ascribe every event to AGW.
On the other hand, rating and ranking storms isn’t particularly useful, either, even though meterologists love to do it. If your house is gone – or your neighborhood, for that matter – it doesn’t make a bit of difference whether it was a Cat 5 hurricane or an extra-tropical storm that did it. What counts is picking up and going on, or helping those who have to.
Though I didn’t put it very well, that might be my point, that the suffering don’t give a damn if whatever storm comes down on them is the result of global warming or just a freak meteorlogical event. Nor do they care how their suffering compares to other storms in history. They must just focus on the task before them which to get back on their feet and try to make their way back to whatever will be then normal for them.
Nice wake-up song before my friends and I leave Cuenca Ecuador/the Andes for the coastal areas.
We’ve had few glimpses of the damage, though I well remember how seeing the first live coverage of Katrina assaulted my psychie. This Mississippi girl wept. It must be hard for all of you to grasp the impact of damage from this unexpected storm and try to move forward with winter approaching.
Everyone has my empathy,
Lisa/Z
Glad you liked the song. I still cringe at the images of Katrina and can’t fathom how one takes on such a challenge as the r ecovery those folks faced. I think that says a lot about our resiliency.
“I know that it doesn’t in any way rival the devastation of Katrina . . . ”
It may be that comparisons are odious but they’re also unavoidable; it’s human nature. Here’s how Scientific American sees it, though the last word on Sandy (and perhaps Katrina as well) hasn’t yet been written.
You’re right–it is in our nature to continually put everything in some sort of comparative terms. Thanks for the link!