Hurricane Shocks and Surprises - Could it Happen Here?

Hurricane Shocks and Surprises - Could it Happen Here?

Who would have guessed that my sister’s town in Eastern TN would experience widespread flooding and power outages the morning after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area, or that a hospital in a nearby town would be surrounded by fast-moving floodwaters requiring everyone to be airlifted off the roof by helicopter, or that much of Ashville, NC would be under water, or that hundreds of people would be dead or still missing 4 days later? Who would expect my friend in Gulfport, FL to be sheltering her first-floor neighbors in her third-floor condo and that Cedar Key would be totally destroyed despite having been almost 100 miles East of the Hurricane’s center.

None of us should be complacent. Climate change is increasingly affecting all of us whether we choose to “believe in it” or not. Look what happened to several towns just 50 or so miles south west of us last month. Even if we’re not caught in a climate disaster ourselves, we will all be paying the costs of damage either through taxes, rising insurance rates, rising costs of food and housing, etc. etc. Please look beyond our immediate worries and see the need for massive action at local, state, national and international levels. Yes, the solutions do cost money and will require some changes in what we are used to. But the alternative is ever more costly and horrific climate shocks and surprises.

Find a climate organization you like and get involved! Also make sure you are registered and VOTE for candidates who support action on climate change!

Janet Heller

Manchester, CT

(Janet is a member of Citizens Climate Lobby and its District 1 Greater Hartford chapter as well as the CT League of Conservation Voters and Third Act)