2007 Season in full swing

Sunday, June 3, 2007

June 1st began the 2007 Hurricane season, and the second named storm had already formed...TS Barry. Fortunately the storm was a blessing, bringing much needed rain to our parched state. Of course, the 6-7 inches we had was only a drop in the bucket. After all, Lake Okeechobee is ~9' below normal. But what rain we had may stave off imposition of Phase 4 restrictions where we're only allowed to water once a week for an hour.

One puzzlement was the news coverage of gallons of fresh water being released to the ocean rather than being retained. The water management district said it had to release the water through the levies to avoid flooding, but one would think that there could have been a way to redirect the water to save it. If nothing else this drought has shown is Southern Florida has become overdeveloped beyond the available water capacity. It's time to think outside the box so we don't have another repeat of this year's water shortage.

The hurricane sales tax-free period began on Friday and will run until June 12th. I already bought the one item I wanted for this season: a weather radio. I also bought more batteries to replace ones used over the past year. Otherwise, I'm pretty well set. I need to drag out the generator and test run it plus start stocking up on gas. I don't want to keep much around, but I want at least a 2-day supply. Going through the gas lines right after a hurricane hits is way too stressful. Gas stations along the evacuation routes are supposed to have generator hook-up's now, but I still rather avoid the initial mayhem.

So Andrea and Barry are already here and gone; next name up will be Chantal.

Carol