I’ll be leaving for Washington DC this coming Thursday to go to the Travel Writer’s Workshop. I really hope to come back with a saleable article about my trip, but as usual, I have two things to worry about before I even board a plane. The hurricanes hitting the Florida coast this year are absolutely incredible, bringing the potential for natural destruction to the United States that we haven’t seen since 2005 when Katrina paid a violent visit to New Orleans.
The news this morning shows the path they expect Hurricane Irma to take, which has shifted a little to the west. If it continues it may skip up the West Coast of Florida and hit New Orleans, or even knock on Houston’s front door with its powerful winds and rain. The path is currently uncertain, but the chances Florida will feel some pain are pretty high. A Miami organization even airlifted Dolphins out of rehabilitation facilities to try to protect them.
To make things worse, once Irma has passed by there is a high chance for a hit by her equally destructive sibling, Jose. With equally destructive winds and rain, Jose is tracking right behind Irma and is expected to follow a similar path. The Florida citizens might dodge the first bullet but two would be a miracle. All of the people along the Carribean and Gulf coasts are in a tough spot.
Although the rest of us will not have life threatening issues to work through, we will feel some of our own pain. Gas prices have continued to rise over the past week, hitting their highest point in at least a year. For my own journey, my biggest concern is getting on a plane and making it to or from DC. I already have a curse that leaves me delayed or stranded almost every time I travel, and the current weather conditions will only make that worse. Maybe I get there in time, and maybe I don’t.
I know that’s not even noteworthy given the troubles people in the path of the storm will face, but it’s my own little problem and I hope I can make it to the conference. Until both storms have passed it’s impossible to guess at the impact. Maybe they get brushed by the edges, and maybe the path changes and the entire State is hit by a Category 5 monster. I guess we’ll just see.
Hopefully, I’ll make it one time, learn a ton, and come home with some great knowledge I can then use to further my career. In the mean time, the people living in the southern states are in all of our thoughts and prayers up here.
More soon…