Tropical Storm Debby Does Orlando-area News Casters
We’ve got a tropical storm over in the Gulf of Mexico. Debby as a tropical system isn’t all that impressive but she _IS_ a tropical system. She’s got some of the usual attributes and at least one that is unusual. The unusual bit is that she has stalled out in the Gulf, with the consequence that we’re getting drenched here in the peninsula. We’ve been getting soaked by this system for several days now, even before it was an official system. The rain is needed but tiresome at this point.
Among the more usual aspects are those you would associate with a tropical system (wind, rain, etc.) and weather porn from the local news. Debby is a big, slow, wet, sloppy kiss from the tropics and the local news folks are aroused. They show their ardor by devoting as much coverage as possible to this storm. Back in March it was clear how hard up the newsies were getting as they devoted inordinate amounts of coverage to any little local storm that popped up. They really REALLY needed to get some, so Debby is a prayer answered.
Weather porn is the local news caster’s dream. Indeed, even some national news types love it too. Dan Rather made his bones covering a hurricane, and Geraldo doesn’t usually miss an opportunity to stand out in the wind & rain and look like a bigger fool than usual. Weather porn is big and dramatic, and even when death is involved it avoids the nastiness of talking about psycho-killers, child molesters, the deranged and the political. And once they get their fix of Act of God Drama they can go back to the regular stuff with a happy little glean in their eyes. So in the next few months when you see a newscaster reporting some grotesque of a story political or criminal (not mutually exclusive) with a twinkle in their eye, you’ll know that some locale just got the stuffing kicked out of it by weather in the previous weeks.
Ambiance 
mockturtle said,
June 25, 2012 at 10:34 am
Yep! :-D
karen said,
June 25, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Heh- watching the noon news and weather– and there’s Debby- looking like a little 69 tumbling around in a FL bedroom!!
At least you NEED the rain. That’s a good thing. Hope that’s all you get- tropical storms can develop into hurricanes, yes?
mockturtle said,
June 25, 2012 at 12:23 pm
What it there’s a premature ejaculation? That would really be a media downer, wouldn’t it?
Icepick said,
June 25, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Karen, they frequently do. Doesn’t look like this one will, though, not near Florida.
MT, Debby will be here all week and into NEXT weekend according to the latest forecast, so there will be plenty of time for the Viagra, Cialis, Extenz, et cetera to kick in! Party on!
Icepick said,
June 25, 2012 at 12:46 pm
The bad news is I have nine soggy cats outside. I’ve got to figure out how to get them some shelter since Debby is refusing to vacate the premises.
mockturtle said,
June 25, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Wow, I hope you can herd those cats to safety! Take care, Ice! We don’t want to lose you . Or your cats.
Icepick said,
June 25, 2012 at 3:24 pm
MT, we’re not in any real danger here. The only way one gets hurt or injured where we are is by suffering the same kind of bad luck that can happen in any storm – car accident, downed tree, etc. People living closer to the center of the storm, on low ling ground or near the beach have concerns but we aren’t in any of those situations.
The cats have it worse. We’re in a break in the bands at the moment, so the cats are dry for now and should remain so for many more hours. But I can’t bring nine semi-feral cats (and their flees) into my house with my daughter and three cats. (Yes, I’ve got twelve cats at the moment. Yes, I’m a sucker.) The back porch would be a decent spot save for two things. First, when they were camped out back there a couple months back it created a massive flee infestation that chased them off. (I thoughtlessly didn’t consider that issue, as these are the first outdoor cats I’ve had. Keeping the flees in check inside is relatively easy, so I just didn’t think about it for the outside cats.) I’m not sure if I have that completely under control or not. They won’t stay if the flees are there in force and more importantly they shouldn’t stay there.
Second, I would have to leave the door open, and even braced with bricks it would likely bang around a good deal during the downbursts. (One of the cats has figured out how to pop the screens out so I can’t close them in with a couple of litter boxes.)
Not sure what I’m gonna do if that storm doesn’t turn west or go north quickly….
mockturtle said,
June 25, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Cats are incredibly resilient. You may just have to trust their survival skills.
amba (Annie Gottlieb) said,
June 26, 2012 at 1:00 am
Yes, I’ve got twelve cats at the moment. Yes, I’m a sucker.
The torch passes.
karen said,
June 26, 2012 at 7:33 am
Ice- don’t you know you’re supposed to say ~pron~?
Icepick said,
June 26, 2012 at 8:09 am
Ice- don’t you know you’re supposed to say ~pron~?
That’s in the tag line.
…
Missing two of the kits this morning. They’ll probably turn up tonight but there’s no guarantee.
…
UPDATE: Only missing one kit now.
Icepick said,
June 26, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Eventually both missing kits turned up, the second looking very bedraggled.
Also, we appear to be through the worst of the weather, though we should get the occassional band of showers moving through.
mockturtle said,
June 26, 2012 at 6:30 pm
:-)
dustbury.com » Funnel be had said,
June 27, 2012 at 9:44 pm
[…] don’t get a whole lot of tornadoes in Florida, but what they do get is reported on in an all-too-familiar manner: Weather porn is the local news caster’s dream. Indeed, even some national news types love […]
lh said,
July 2, 2012 at 3:54 am
1.) Build a lean-to (not hard).
2.) Buy and apply the top-of-head flea treatment for cats (also not hard, but it does cost some bucks): It’s gotten much better and really is not particularly toxic especially on, and in, balance with its effectiveness.
****
FTR, we finally went with #2 for both cats and dogs (but on the dogs it’s applied in a different place) a while back. No regrets–and by that I mean, that despite initial concerns, we have no regrets based on experience over time, thereafter.
And, make no mistake, we would have also done #1, in a heartbeat, had not already a functionally similar structure (or two) already existed on our property. : )