So Long Hurricane Season

So today marks the official end of the 2011 Hurricane Season.   If you have ever been through a hurricane, you know that this is a BIG deal.  It almost makes me welcome the cold weather.

Almost.

This year the Atlantic basin was full of storms, but again we managed to dodge another bullet here on the Gulf Coast.   There is one storm from this year that will forever be in our memories though, and that is Hurricane Irene which grazed the Northern Eat Coast and though not as catastrophic as originally expected (or prepared for)  it did create over $10 billion in damages.

The conclusion of Hurricane Season means a few things around here.  One – a big collective sigh of relief, but also time to put away the “stock piles” we all save for the “just in case.”

The batteries we stock piled will now be used in Christmas Gifts.  The bottles of water we can drink and make tea.  The flashlights will retire to the closet, and the food storage containers shoved into the shed to hibernate until next June when we pull them out, simply to pack everything up again and wait.

Hurricanes have played such a huge roles in my life – from being a “product” of Hurricane Frederick in 1979 to losing my childhood home to Hurricane Erin in 1995 and then losing my lovely little apartment to Hurricane Ivan in 2004 – I have tracked every storm for as far back as I can remember.  As a life long Gulf Coast resident, with no intention of ever moving, I know they will inevitably play a role in my future as well.

But for now, we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief.