August 24, 2005 Archives

I am stunned. I never wrote about it here, there being so much controversy and it being a seemingly political issue, but when the BRAC commission originally announced the New London submarine base would close, I figured it was a done deal.

It seemed, as a Blue State, Connecticut had little pull in 21st Century Washington. The BRAC commission was supposed to be non-partisan, but...

Well, I could not have been any more wrong!

Forget about security for a moment, because I am not qualified to judge how much more or less secure our nation would be with submarines based elsewhere. My concern was Connecticut and how our state's well being would be affected.

In terms of economics this would have been a tragic body blow to the state. All those people and jobs, all that money and commerce, all the subcontractors necessary to run the base - gone.

Before the advent of casino gambling, Southeastern Connecticut was an economic black hole. This would have brought us back to where we were before the casinos and then some.

Am I looking at this from a selfish standpoint? Absolutely.

When I called my folks yesterday to give them their "Katrina heads-up," I immediately heard the discomfort in my mom's voice. It's not that she didn't feel they could weather a hurricane. It's that she already has.

Even if it creates no significant damage, a hurricane is a major inconvenience. My mom and dad remember the days without power, phone and air conditioning. Who wants to repeat that?

She said they were prepared in the things you're supposed to have: lanterns, water, food, batteries.

I wish I could say they were off the hook. The definitely are not. The predicted track brings Katrina perilously close to Boynton Beach early Friday morning.

A hurricane is bad enough during the day. In the dark of night, it's worse.

The only good news is the hope Katrina will stay a minimal hurricane. Much of South Florida is built to easily survive a category one storm.

This isn't my last post on this storm.

I have been looking at the Miami NWS Nexrad's image of Katrina¹. Very interesting.

It doesn't have distinct hurricane features yet. There's no eye, as such. Still, I am seeing what looks like a center of circulation. It is becoming circular after its previous blob shape.

I think of all the observational tools, radar is best at this point. Satellites are interesting, but radar is so much closer to real time and rapidly updated.

¹ - Right now, that's just whatever's on the Miami radar. It was Katrina when this entry was originally posted.