Yesterday, Jack (of Jack’s Shack) asked visitors if, faced with the choice, they would prefer a hurricane or an earthquake. An earthquake, said Rachel from Seattle who grew up on the US west coast. A hurricane, said I, who grew up in the wet northwest of England and doesn't fancy being swallowed up in a crevice that goes to the centre of the earth.
I don’t usually bother my head about either of those two options. But as it happened, my boyfriend's native island of Aruba was hit by hurricane Ivan yesterday and today. We heard by telephone that his sister and brother-in-law spent all day boarding up their detached home, just in case. The storm was graded 5 on a scale ending in 5 by the time it passed with its centre only 89 miles off the coast of that tiny dot above Venezuela. One report on the message board of aruba.com suggests that beautiful Baby Beach has been hit hard. Photos show crashing waves and palm trees surrounded by water. Other reports suggest that the damage wasn’t too bad after all.
Suddenly, I think I understand what Jack meant when he said that a hurricane would stress him out more than an earthquake. The thought of being stuck inside a boarded up house in the middle of the night, possibly without electric light, as a storm howls all around you doesn't, frankly, thrill. But, no... pushed to make the choice, I'd still go for the hurricane.
Here, some links to pics of the scenes in the south Caribbean: Aruba one, two, three.
3 comments:
Not me. I still prefer the earthquakes. The bigger, more dangerous ones are still infrequent. Not to mention that I hate the idea of watching something come that may or may not wreck my house.
Know what you mean. But when the earth gives way under your feet it must be terrifying. We used to have very minor earth tremors where I grew up (over a fault) and I can remember seeing a wave go through the floor. It was all over in 15 seconds but it was freaky. Let's hope we never face the choice!
I definitely prefer a hurricane over an earthquake. While the earthquake would leave little damage it is totally unexpected. You never know when it will happen. It could happen as you are crossing a major bridge like the Golden Gate without warning. A hurricane doesnt just pop up and create major damage. Most people have enough warning to get out of harms way. Yeah. I definitely choose a hurricane.
PS. Thanks for linking me :)
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