Not so much with the health this time around, as certain recent weather events and my location here on the Gulf Coast prompt a little hurricane blogging instead.
New Orleans Transformation: Disaster-Prone City Turning Into Storm Fortress?
This io9 story contains interesting photos and insight, as the city devastated by Katrina evacuated successfully this time around, and some residents never even lost power. Author Annalee Newitz had this to say about levee art:
New Orleans has already started to weave its status as a weather disaster city into its public art. This is significant because when storm disasters become part of the city’s self-image, part of its mythology even, it can serve to reinforce its citizens’ ability to mobilize in a disaster.
And will the city eventually fold, as one weather disaster after another beats it into submission before ongoing disaster preparations are finished? Newitz asks, comparing the scenario to one theory about the collapse of the Mayan civilization. The other possibility, New Orleans residents becoming better equipped and more experienced than almost any other people to weather storms rather than leave their beloved city, seems much more likely to me.
Retired Hurricane Names
When a storm causes major damage, a country can lobby for the World Meteorological Organization to retire its name, usually in remembrance for lives lost and to honor the people affected by its destruction. There will never be another hurricane named Katrina, for example.
is your name on the list? Mine isn’t, but my sister’s is.
What Do Hurricane Hunters See?
Hurricane Hunters fly their planes right into the center of the massive storms. These are photos of Katrina’s eyewall when it was a Category 5 storm.
