  
|  | ||||||||||||||
Brutal hurricanes turn amnesia to anxietyBy John Zarrella  John Zarrella is responsible for CNN's coverage of news in Florida and the Caribbean. SPECIAL REPORT
• Interactive: Safety Tips
• Flash: How hurricanes form
• Gallery: Saffir-Simpson scale
• I-Report: Send us your stories
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSMIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Max Mayfield used to be fond of the expression "hurricane amnesia." For years, most folks living in hurricane-vulnerable areas were complacent about the risk they faced. That was a great worry to Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center. You certainly can't say that any longer. Two back-to-back, brutal hurricane seasons have transformed hurricane amnesia into hurricane anxiety. Hurricane forecasters and atmospheric scientists would never sit there and say, "We told you so." But they did say so. They had been warning for years that it was coming -- the return to a time when big, powerful storms threatened and ravaged our coastline and our cities. That time has arrived with a vengeance. And no matter whom I talk with, they speak of hurricanes -- of this upcoming hurricane season -- with a level of anxiety I've seen only once before. That was in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, in 1992. Part of the anxiety I think --and I'm no psychologist -- is simply because so many of us never got over last season. For the people of New Orleans it will be years, if ever, before they get over what happened. Clearly, they will never forget. The reminders are daily. Even for those of us here in south Florida, the reminders are daily. Wilma hit us on October 24 at the tail end of that brutal 2005 season. And for the past six months we have been dealing with the never-ending frustration of recovery. Again, it is nowhere near the pain, the misery being felt by the people of Mississippi and Louisiana. But when I drive into my neighborhood, I see blue tarps on roofs. I see plastic orange fences around backyard swimming pools. I see roofers and repairmen. Where there were trees, there are stumps. It has not stopped since October 24, and it will continue right through this season. The roof on my own home still sits with 200 tiles missing. The roofer can't get replacements. You can never escape the reminders. And here's another twist: My homeowners insurance went up -- but I was elated. Why? Because at least they didn't cancel me. Many people are feeling this hurricane anxiety. On October 24 I stood on the beach at Marco Island with Anderson Cooper. For 55 minutes we were in the eye of Hurricane Wilma. Dead calm. Then we got hit with the back half of the storm. Much worse than the front. It was about 10 a.m. when I finally had a chance to check my cell phone for messages. There was one from my wife, Robin. Everyone was OK, she said. But a pine tree had come down and crashed onto the house's screened enclosure. All of it, enclosure and tree, was in the pool. The roof was damaged. Half a dozen trees were uprooted. I've replanted all of them with fruit trees. I hope they mature before the next hurricane comes along and takes them down. I never expected the level of damage south Florida experienced from Wilma. Few people did. What produces the hurricane anxiety in me is knowing that Wilma wasn't that powerful of a storm when it hit us. What produces that hurricane anxiety in me is knowing that none of the four major hurricanes to hit the United States last year was, in terms of strength, the "big one." At landfall they were all Category 3 storms. And that makes me very anxious. 
|
| ||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
