Hurricane Season in the Charleston Lowcountry...or better known as "Do I need to tape my windows" Season

Here we go again!

During the last 50 years of memories of hurricane seasons some things have changed, but some haven't changed at all.

Certainly the landscape and population have changed dramatically.  Demographics have changed too with our changing economy, an economic mix that has thankfully gravitated away from dependence on Federal jobs.  We are an older group too, not just me, but the area as a whole with baby boomers retiring to the area.  But we are still a community full of young families who are filling up beaches, schools, and recreational activities. 

One of the things that hasn't changed is the sudden chaos that occurs when there is the mere whisper of a potential tropical storm/depression/wave/hurricane.  We used to have Charlie Hall with his somewhat unclear weather maps...give him a break, it was the 60's and 70's...now we have Doppler this, Doppler that, Super Doppler, and Super Super Doppler.  We have satelites to predict the intensity and direction of storms, and we have experts that annually predict how many storms we will have, how many will become hurricanes, how many will become hurricanes that can inflict devastating damage, and how many will impace the East Coast of the US.  In spite of everything, those predictions have realized a questionable amount of success.  Of course, those of us who have been through all of this know that a "Bad" hurricane season is one that impacts us directly.

In my homes, as a child or as an adult, we have taped windows, put plywood on windows, we have packed up, we have filled up bathtubs, we have filled our shopping carts with Spam, diapers, peanut butter, water, Sterno, bread, bottled water, alcohol, etc. and we have filled our cars and coolers tanks with gas. We have cleared our yards of debris which could become missiles, tied up our lawn chairs, agonized over what to do if we had to evacuate, gotten the tranquilizers for our cats who had to travel with dogs over long distances west to run from the storm, and we have bought more alcohol.  We have sat for hours on interstates, heck, we have even played football while sitting on interstates. 

I have seen roofs in the streets, single pine cones, shrimp in the yard, whole trees in living rooms where my neighbors sat drinking their morning coffee...all the result of some named storm.  The news media has done vast footage on most ot those things...over and over.  I have felt the stinging rain on the beach and laughed at newscasters as they stood on the beach talking about it.  I am sure that learning that one line is important to survival in that field in the Charleston area.  I have done without power for 21 days while my children were out of school, gone without mail delivery for a week because trees covered the street, I have served meals at 5:00 am to power companies who were here from everywhere to help restore electricity to our community, and I have gone days without showering in water that was too cold to put my foot in. 

I remember hurricanes named Hazel, Gaston, Irene, and others, but I mostly remember Hugo.  There has never been a hurricane named Cheryll, as far as I know, but if we had one I know that it would be a bad one. 

I have also witnessed amazing acts of kindness too...neighbors clearing trees from the doors of their neighbors, checking on those who could not do for themselves, providing generators to those who could not breathe without air conditioning, and providing water and coffee to those who worked more hours each day than there were hours. 

Yes...hurricane season in the Charleston Lowcountry is about many things...by the way, you should never tape your windows.  It is just too hard to get off.  If you don't believe it, just look at all of the windows that still have tape on them 6 months after hurricane season.