Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Letter for Ross and Hannah, In the Eye of Frances
In '92 I had a British Airways flight from Miami to London for my first year of school in Wales. It must have been the end of August. My connecting flight from Columbus brought me in over the path of destruction left by Hurricane Andrew. I remember being more fascinated than frightened by the sight of a hurricane's wake. Andrew, it has been said, was three times more destructive than Charley. The combination of Frances and Charley (and Ivan, and on) together will no doubt rival that summer.The impression I was left with, on our low approach to Miami International were the flattened toothpick rows of felled trees. It reminded me of images from Mt. St. Hellens in 1980, which has since reminded me of the aerial photos of Hiroshima. Comparing these hurricanes to those explosions is perhaps hyperbole, but when you see trees stripped bare, laying on their side in a mass grave over the earth, one can hardly keep from the notion.
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