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storm
As I’m writing this morning, rain is still pounding the Gulf coast as the remnants of Hurricane Harvey linger over Houston and other portions of the Deep South. This is not a new torture for this area. Every few years they endure almost exactly the same results from a differently named storm. Cities flood. Homes and businesses are destroyed. People die. Then, they rebuild.
Then, once the storm is gone they rebuild. They start over. Everything is brand new, hopefully stronger, better, and better able to withstand whatever comes next. The dirt and debris
The dirt and debris wash out with the tides. Gone. Nothing left but memories; some good ones, some bad ones. The process repeats itself irregularly. Somehow, the planet seems to know better than we do when a place needs a good scrubbing.
Water does a wonderful job of cleaning things up. We notice it when we step outside after a rain shower and smell the fresh fragrance of the air. We feel it for ourselves when we bathe. Water cleans us like nothing else.
Sometimes, though, we need a little more. A relationship ends. A job is lost. One’s world begins to crumble. Life needs to change but it is hampered by the debris of all that was.
So, one cleans up. Change houses. Change jobs. Change clothes. Shave your head. Start over.
The shower becomes a metaphor. Dark shadows of the past contrast with bright highlights of hope for the future. Steam rises off the skin, an endurance of momentary pain knowing that it is washing away all the negative energy and feelings from what once was. Water flows over the head, down the back, and into the drain taking with it all the ruin and debris.
Storms are difficult and frightening. Not everyone survives. Those who do, however, are stronger. Refreshed. Ready to move forward.
Such is the natural process of life on the planet earth.
[As always, click on any thumbnail below to open the full gallery.]
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https://youtu.be/6PRETGoM1I0
Partially frozen, never faked
Welcome! This is Sunday morning, December 18. We’re desperately trying to get a grip on things here as we’re now only one week away from both Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah. The prophet’s birthday is tomorrow for all our Muslim friends. The stores would be packed if the entire Northern United States weren’t under a sheet of ice this morning. We’ll talk more about that in a little bit. What’s important is that everyone stays warm and safe as much as possible. We’ll try to keep you informed with what’s going on.
The president-elect is still making more cabinet and senior advisory appointments, there are conflicting reports coming out of Syria as to whether people in Aleppo are actually able to leave safely, and apparently Saturday Night Live was a real hoot. I wouldn’t know, I was already sound asleep. We have confirmed and verified five things you need to know, though, so let’s take a look at those.
One nation, under ice
We’ve been talking about snow and ice for a few days now, but the weather is very much dominating the news this morning as yet another wave of snow and ice fell across the Northern half of the United States yesterday and early this morning. So far, the storm is being blamed for at least nine deaths yesterday, though that number could increase as investigations are continuing1.
While there were pileups and backed up traffic all the way from Colorado to Maine, the biggest seemed to be along I-95 where reports of anywhere from 55 to 70 cars were involved in a pileup that killed at least two people. Indianapolis police reported over 500 accidents before 8:00 yesterday morning with at least two deaths there as well. The weather has created a mess all across the country that has caused a number of holiday plans to be canceled for this weekend. Exactly how bad this will affect last-minute holiday shopping remains to be seen, but it certainly isn’t good news for retailers who were already struggling to end this year on a positive note.
Don’t think the South got off scot-free, either. From Missouri down through Mississippi there were severe storms and threats of tornadoes yesterday afternoon and throughout the night. While there have not yet been any reports of death, there has been considerable property damage.
Weather like this is enough to dampen even the most stalwart of holiday spirits.
A problem with the water
Everything being cold and wet across the Eastern half of the country reminds us of just how much water has been a factor in news stories this year. Both Detroit and St. Joseph, Louisiana continue to struggle with finding clean drinking water, and this week we added Corpus Christie, Texas to the mix2. In case you missed it, a chemical leak is to blame for a ban on any use of water coming from the public water supply in the city of over 300,000 residents. This is so bad, that officials there say even boiling the water isn’t good enough. Bottled water has been brought in and is being distributed.
What we’re hearing now, according to the Associated Press, is that city officials had three warnings prior to this current catastrophe. In fact, Corpus Christie Mayor Dan McQueen, who just took office this past Tuesday, won his position in part by campaigning against the previous mayor’s inability to handle water problems in the city. Officials are hoping that test studies released later today will determine the exact source of the chemical leak. An asphalt plant has been the culprit before, but the city also has a problem with aging lead pipes.
Across the country, the deteriorating conditions of public water systems initially installed in the 1940s and 50s are giving way and pose a serious health threat. Unless Congress acts and provides a serious amount of funding to repair these systems, I fear we could see even more water safety issues throughout the next year.
On your mark, get set …
I’ve heard a lot of people say that they feel like running away, whether because of the political climate or financial pressures or just the challenge of trying to survive. A number of people wouldn’t mind strapping on their running shoes and taking off.
Well, if you can hold on a couple of months, you might be able to get those shoes custom fitted. Adidas has startedselling their 3D-printed shoe in limited release3. For now, if you want a pair of the shoes, you have to order them through the Adidas Confirmed app. Then, when your shoes are ready, you have to be able to pick them up at the Adidas flagship store on Fifth Avenue and 46th street in New York City. You’ll also be paying $333 for the privilege of wearing these state-of-the-art sneakers.
This is a huge move for both the footwear and fashion industries. Designers have been working with 3D-printed clothing and materials for a couple of years now, and both Under Armor and New Balance released their 3D shoes earlier this year. Adidas has significantly larger market share, however, and could easily dominate the market if they are able to get 3D shoes into high scale production quickly. Adidas says this is the first step in being able to provide “customized shoes based on an individual’s footprint – including their running style, foot shape, performance needs and personal preferences.”
With custom-fitted shoes, running may be a lot more plausible.
An insult is a good thing
Around the world, magazines and other periodical publications have struggled to remain profitable in an increasingly digital age. Magazine publisher Condé Nast, who owns brands such as Vogue, GQ, and Brides, has certainly seen its share of problems and has even shuttered some publications and moved several to online-only strategies. However, they may have accidentally hit on a new strategy that could save them all.
Earlier this week, Condé Nast magazine Vanity Fair published an absolutely scathing review of the new Trump Grill in New York4. In fact, the headline on the review reads: “Trump Grill Could Be The Worst Restaurant In America.” Now, I’ve eaten in some really bad restaurants and at least three of them were in New York. So, to say the Trump Grill could be the worst in America is really quite something.
Unsurprisingly, the president-elect didn’t like that review too terribly much. He responded with a tweet, as he tends to do, saying, “Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of @VanityFair Magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead! Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out!” If the president-elect held any respect among the American people, that could have been a death knell for the magazine. But he doesn’t and it wasn’t.
Vanity Fair told Adweek5 that subscriptions for the magazine were 100 times the amount they typically sell in a day, setting a record for the number of subscriptions sold in a single day for any Condé Nast publication. The review has had more than a million views online and Vanity Fair’s Twitter followers increased by more than 10,000. Not bad for a “dying” magazine.
Of course, what Condé Nast has to figure out now is how to get the president-elect to issue similar insults for all its brands. One of the best marketing concepts for 2017 may be getting a diss from the new president.
Is all hope gone
The effect of Donald Trump’s insult toward VanityFair underscores not only a severe lack of respect for the president-elect, but a general feeling across much of the United States that we are entering a phase of the country’s history where the president acts without regard to the people on a regular basis.
The current First Lady, Michelle Obama, gave voice to that emotion when she taped an interview with Oprah Winfrey for CBS and the Oprah Winfrey Network that airs this week. Here’s a clip from that interview:
Mrs. Obama’s words struck home:
See, now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like, you know? Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. And Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought was just a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe that what else do you have if you don’t have hope? What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?”
The clip has been shared widely since its release this week with a large number of people identifying with the emotion that the First Lady describes. As the nation prepares to inaugurate the 45th president of the United States, it does so knowing that his victory occurred only in the Electoral College and is not reflected in the popular vote nor popular sentiment.
Mr. Trump responded Saturday night to the clip, saying, “she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out.”
We’re out of time for this morning. We’ll have more pictures and possibly a long read later today, so be sure to check back or, better yet, subscribe so that you don’t miss anything! Stay warm. Stay safe. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Living is strife and torment, disappointment and love and sacrifice, golden sunsets and black storm. —Laurence Olivier
Indiana cowered as storms passed over, but we were not alone. Everyone gets to endure a storm.
Skies above were clear and the air was humid as I stepped out the door to take the dog on his early morning walk. The last of the rain moved out around 3:00 AM. Computer models aren’t predicting any new storms for today, but WTHR’s Chuck Lofton isn’t convinced. Conditions this morning are too similar to yesterday morning. As the dog and I make the last turn toward home, I see lightning to the North.
Yesterday wasn’t a pleasant weather day for anyone in central Indiana. The first siren sounded here shortly after 3:00 PM. By that time, a Starbucks up in Kokomo (about a 90-minute drive North) had already been flattened by an F3 tornado. I grabbed my hat and phone and headed outside. A neighbor met me on the corner and we watched one lightning strike after another.
“You don’t think that’s headed this way, do you?” he asked, the worry showing on his face. Yesterday was his birthday and he wasn’t having a good one.
“No,” I answered. “But it’s too close for comfort. That’s hitting right around 38th street. Just about where the kids’ school is.”
The lightning passed, then came the bulk of the storm. Clouds and wind shifted direction repeatedly. We never saw a funnel. We wouldn’t have in all that rain. The system moved on East and caused more trouble in the central and Eastern parts of town. Only two twisters have been confirmed, but there were many more funnels spotted. Buildings damaged. Power out. Children scared as they hunkered down at school. Not a fun day to be in Indiana.
It’s Not Always Like This
Tornado sirens went off five different times yesterday afternoon, prompting my 18-year-old, who just moved up here, to ask whether the weather was like this all the time. This is the second time since he’s been here that sirens have sounded. This isn’t what we might consider traditional Indiana weather, especially for this time of year. Research out of Purdue University in Lafayette suggests that warmer temperatures might be pushing “tornado alley” into the state. Days like yesterday may become the new normal for Indiana.
When a storm like this hits an area, everyone is momentarily jarred. Weather is one of those areas in life over which we have absolutely no control. When the weather starts getting nasty, our senses revert to an inherent sense of fear. We instinctually recognize the danger. Our blood pressure increases to facilitate a run to cover. Our ears go on high alert, listening for the approaching storm. Eyes become more focused, even to the point of increasing our ability to see in the dark. As the storm passes, we exhale, feel a sense of relief in still being alive. We survived another one. Yay us.
Storms like yesterday are small, though. Just ask anyone in Louisiana who is still wading through several feet of water, unable to return to their homes. No one totally escapes the storms that life throws at us. As frightening as yesterday might have been for some, those storms were light compared to what others are enduring.
A Death Toll Rises
Earthquakes hit central Italy last week, completely leveling many ancient towns. At first, the death toll seemed moderate. I think the first report I saw listed 14 casualties. When I went to bed last night, the count was at 159. This morning, the death toll sits at 247 and climbing. Strong aftershocks continue, making rescues dangerous. The storms we endure are not always those associated with weather. They come at us from many different directions and many different forms. Compared to what is still happening in Italy, yesterday’s dance with tornadoes was a walk in the park.
In the Italian city of Amatrice, one of the worst-hit towns, a small hotel with 70 guests collapsed. Only seven bodies have been recovered so far. In Pescara del Tronto, rescuers were finally able to get to a 10-year-old girl who had lain in rubble for 17 hours. Over in Accumoli, however, two little boys, ages 8 months and 9 years, were buried along with their parents when their house fell in on them. Stories like these are repeated over and over and over across central Italy to the point one risks becoming numb to the tragedy. This storm was just as unexpected as yesterday’s tornadoes. No one could have predicted this.
Yet, to not expect storms in life is foolish. I sometimes think that we should teach storm survival skills as a course in high school. Students would learn skills to help them survive not only tornadoes, but earthquakes, floods, mudslides, volcanic activity and other forms of displacement and upheaval. Fire is an inevitability for everyone. Storms are inevitable. So, why are we not better equipped, both emotionally and tactically, to hand them?
#CantDoNothing
Since life’s storms are so inevitable, not only do we need to be prepared to handle the ones that directly affect us, but we also have a responsibility to respond to the tragedy of storms that displace others. Locally, the American Red Cross is leading efforts to assist those most directly impacted by yesterday’s storms. If you want to help, you can click here to give. Around the world, there are appropriate agencies to which one can give as to participate in providing relief to all the manners of storms that disable people around the world. Those who survive have a responsibility to humanity to step up and provide assistance.
Sometimes, though, storms are ongoing. Some of the most devastating events are not natural disasters but those initiated by the insanity of war and economic disasters. Refugees continue to pour from Syria and other war-torn countries. Their storm seems never ending. While it’s easy enough to sit here and say, “I feel sorry for those people,” what they really need is a more hands-on approach, people willing to volunteer on the ground in the places where refugees land and the places they wait.
Milana Vayntrub is probably best known to most of us as Lily from the AT&T commercials. She was vacationing in Greece earlier this year when she learned about the severity of the refugee situation there. Being a refugee herself, she felt compassion and took the steps to do something. She then used her phone to create a documentary about the situation. The portion here is 13 minutes. Please, take a moment to watch.
More Storms Coming
Some storms can be forecasted. Many others can’t. What we do know is that more storms are coming, both here in Indiana and around the world. With each storm, there are people adversely affected. We hope to not become victims ourselves. Where we don’t, however, we have an obligation to help those who are, not just here, but around the world.
Killer Tornadoes
18 dead as storms hit the Southeast
The Short Version
As many as 19 people died over the weekend as deadly storms with powerful tornadoes ripped their way across the South from Louisiana to South Carolina. The majority of deaths occurred in Georgia where 14 people were killed in storms on Sunday. Four additional deaths occurred in storms in Mississippi on Saturday. The total amount of damage has yet to be determined, but is expected to be over half a million dollars as entire neighborhoods were flattened.
A Little More Detail
There really is no such thing as an “off” season for tornadoes in the South. While we typically think of Spring as being the time most ripe for the deadly storms, temperature fluctuations in the South keep the possibility of dangerous weather present year-round. Still, the strength of this weekend’s storms, which ran across the entire Southeastern United States, were surprising and managed to catch people off guard.
The first of the deadly storms hit Saturday in Mississippi where four were killed. The storm arrived in the Hattiesburg area before daylight Saturday morning, ripping up trees that were hundreds of years old and completely closing Interstate 59 for a while. Three counties were affected by the tornado as it tore across the Southern part of the state.
Early morning also proved to be the deadliest period in Georgia as a tornado completely flattened a mobile home park in the small town of Adel, killing seven and leaving many more homeless. The tornadoes didn’t stop there, though. Later in the afternoon, another twister hit Albany, where three more were killed.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma says that 39 possible tornadoes were reported over the weekend, though not all of those have been confirmed. January has averaged roughly 38 tornadoes each year over the past decade, but rarely do they contain as much destructive energy as those this weekend. Among those confirmed so far, 30 were reported in Georgia, four in Mississippi, and one each in Louisiana and South Carolina.
While the destruction was widespread, only Georgia has declared a state of emergency.
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