Thursday, August 25, 2005

Rain Day = Snow Day Plus Heat Plus Wind Plus Rain

We're still down here in the Florida Keys, and Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on southern Florida. As she makes her way through the Atlantic toward Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, school system after system in Dade and Broward Counties have been cancelling classes since early this morning -- even while Katrina was still deemed a "mere" tropical storm.

I'd never really thought about this before. I've lived in many places where school gets cancelled for snow -- Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts -- but I've never lived in real hurricane belt country. Virginia Beach, my hometown, has been spared the brunt of many hurricanes through the years by dint of sheer luck, and I don't remember ever missing a day of school due to high winds or heavy rain. (On the other hand, the Beach is so ill-prepared for heavy snow that we once missed an entire week of school the week I turned 12 when it snowed less than a foot.)

So the Florida kids will no doubt see their school year extended by a few days now. On their calendars they probably talk about "hurricane days" and their effect on the school year. It might seem fun to have the equivalent of a New England-style snow day, but somehow I doubt it: instead of spending today or tomorrow sledding, many of them are sitting in emergency shelters worrying about their homes. Good luck, kids. Good luck, everyone.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hope you are safe and well

- Donna
http://completelybroken.journalspace.com

2:28 PM  

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