Irene Blows Over

Hurricane Irene, like any natural disaster, is an awful thing. Lives were lost, houses were damaged, and property was flooded.

The thing that gets me though, is when these hurricanes are given so much hype. I am currently in The Empire State and the media went nuts with the news of Irene. People were told to evacuate their homes and to prepare for the incoming hurricane. When a roommate of mine went to a nearby grocery store just to get some bread and a few other items, she said there were no more water bottles at the store because they were all sold out.

Anticipating Irene reminded me of my experiences with hurricanes down south. The Doodle family has evacuated a few times, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita being the two that stand out the most.

For Hurricane Rita in 2005, the media implied on more than one occasion that we would come back and not see our house. The Doodle family packed up in our old mini van with the dogs, cats, and our prized possessions. Mama and Papa Doodle didn't bring much while Big Doodle, Little Doodle, and I brought our books and video games.

Probably not the best experiences of my life let me just tell you. Luckily though, when we came back home, our house did not have much damage. The fence had blown over, a few shingles were missing, the electricity was out for a day or so, and there was debris scattered everywhere.

Why did the media put so much urgency into this hurricane? I do understand the issue of precaution. With natural disasters such as hurricanes you just never know what can happen so it is always better to be safe then sorry. I get that, I really do.

But my concern is that media and businesses take advantage of the anxious society. Grocery stores probably jumped for joy when rumors of Hurricane Irene were amidst. Gas stations were full of customers waiting to get their tanks filled. I remember the issue of price gauging with Hurricane Charlie in 2004. Even the media will try to get there fair share of updates on the Hurricanes whether it be actually useful to viewers or not. (Smart on their part) Just all of these possibilities in the financial standpoint can be frustrating.


This past weekend my roommates and I had a house party during Irene. It just felt like a windy rain storm honestly. The next morning this was the only damage.

The next day people were joking about how big of a deal they tried to make this and by the day after that, there was no talk at all.

I should be grateful that I am able to laugh about this because others had devastating experiences.


But then I think back on the Doodle Family stuffed in that ugly mini van back in 2005, with the smell of wet dogs and the Doodle kids constantly bickering about who saw the out of state license plate first...

I just can't help but to chuckle a bit.


Until next time,

Snoodle Doodle Jr.