Well, that time of year has finally arrived. The dreaded August to September hurricane danger zone. I’ve had to talk several friends off the PTSD cliff, assuring them: “She’s only predicted to get up to Cat 1, maybe Cat 2. This is not a Hurricane Katrina situation.” But as Francine tracks towards New Orleans, I can’t help but reflect on the resilience our city has shown time and again in the face of nature’s furious indifference.
Francine is currently just a tropical storm, though you wouldn’t know it from the way some news outlets talk. The sensationalism can be overwhelming, but it’s important to separate the drama from the facts. We are a strong city, capable of managing the realities of storm prep without blind panic that leads to overstocking toilet paper.
That said, we need to be prepared for outages. Our power grid hasn’t been sufficiently upgraded to make it more resilient to severe weather. Since power is the apex service that other services depend, outages will affect communications, internet, food security, and gas stations. It’s not about fear, but about readiness.
While I worry about the potential for costly repairs and delays to much-needed infrastructure work, I’m holding onto hope. Our city has a plan to make our electrical grid more resilient. My organization’s research found that Entergy’s 10-year resiliency plan will greatly benefit this city’s most vulnerable groups, like low-income and device-dependent New Orleanians.
I leave you with this anecdote: When I was a kid, my family didn’t rush out to buy bottled water or batteries for hurricane prep. We filled up the bathtub for water and passed the time playing cards by candlelight. My mom taught me how to play Gin Rummy because she said Go Fish was too boring. Once I got the hang of it, I totally agreed. We worried about the damage when the storms passed, and then we helped our neighbors with lawn clean-up.
Francine will be an inconvenience, but it won’t break us. We’ve weathered worse, and we’ll do it again. I say we stay grounded, stay prepared, and support each other through whatever comes next.
P.S. Some Good Resiliency News from Mexico.
Our southern neighbor, Mexico, implemented mangrove restoration projects along its coastlines to enhance its resilience against hurricanes and other climate-related threats. Mangroves offer a natural defense system that reduces the impact of hurricanes. Their dense root systems can reduce storm surges, absorb wind energy, prevent coastal erosion, and act as natural barriers against hurricanes. Since Francine is coasting up Mexico, their mangroves are likely helping us out by limiting Francine’s growth potential. Florida is looking into mangrove restoration also.
P.S.S. Indoor games to play with kids when the power is out.
1. Play cards, build a house of cards, or learn card tricks
2. Read books out loud
3. Play hide and seek
4. Play Hucklebucklebeanstalk
5. Have a scavenger hunt
6. Hide something sweet and create a “treasure” map for the kids to solve
7. Learn Morse Code or invent your own code
8. Paint family portraits
9. Make mnemonics for state capitals or create your own memory palaces
10. Make the flags of the world out of construction paper
11. Have an indoor camping trip and make paper stars
12. Make a television out of a big box and put on shows
13. Learn some yoga poses – namaste!
14. Play balloon volleyball
15. Clean out your closets/dressers and get a head start on Halloween costumes
16. Make up jokes or memes