#stormcoming2020

The news is consistently very scary and I hesitated to share this one, but to be perfectly honest nobody ever seems to care about cyclonic storms unless they're hitting white people.

We saw it with Puerto Rico and Maria, and we're going to see it again here, just as it's always been.

For those participating in Stormcoming, who aren't in the way of the storm yourself, this is the perfect time to take some action:

1. Share the news of the storm and, once they're available, any links to humanitarian aid efforts post-storm. Signal boosts are vital even if you can't directly contribute.

2. If you're a spiritual sort, say your prayers and do your protection and weather spells for the people in harm's way.

This link is to a PDF file containing the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s disaster supply checklist. It’s a great starting place for your hurricane season prep, and your disaster prep in general. 

With the Covid-19 crisis intersecting with hurricane season, it may be difficult to put together a complete disaster prep kit. Do what you can, and remember not to put yourself in danger--if you must go out to purchase items for hurricane prep, remember to practice good social distancing, wear your mask (and gloves if needed), and wash your hands!

Here are a few tips that I’ve picked up as someone who grew up in Florida, doing hurricane prep every single year:

* You don’t have to purchase special water canisters to stock up on water! I grew up in a house that saved all our old vinegar jugs (I lived on a farm; we did a lot of pickling), and for a long time my wife and I used old Arizona Tea jugs. As long as the container seals, is safe, and hasn’t been used for hazardous chemicals, you can put water in it. Please check out the CDC’s guidelines on sanitizing water for disaster prep!

* DON’T TAPE YOUR WINDOWS! This is a common recommendation for hurricane prep, when there’s an active storm heading your way. The idea is that making giant X patterns with tape will keep the glass from breaking, or make the shards less dangerous if it does break. THIS DOES NOT WORK. It runs the risk of allowing the glass to shatter into larger pieces, which is actually more dangerous. [x] [x] 

* Don’t put things in your dishwasher to keep them safe. Your dishwasher is directly hooked up to the water line. If the water line gets backed up or damaged, there’s every possibility it’ll backflow into your dishwasher, destroying whatever you put in there. [x]

* Beware the eyewall! One of the things that got emphasized to me over and over and over when I was a kid, was that if there’s a hurricane coming through, and it’s violently storming outside, and the storm suddenly stops? That’s not a good thing. Depending on where you are, that might mean that you’ve just been hit with one of the eyewalls and the other side is coming fast. Don’t assume that the storm is over and go outside to assess the damage.

* Don’t get in your car and start driving around after the storm has passed, unless you absolutely have to. Even if the storm is passed, it may have made things very dangerous--downed power lines, flood waters, dangerous storm debris, you name it. There have also been instances of hurricanes damaging animal habitats (both natural and in zoos!!) and sending wild animals into human-populated areas. If at all possible, get updates from your local emergency management about whether it’s safe to go out yet, and what areas may need to be avoided.

With the official formation of Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season, I s’pose it’s time for me to talk about Stormcoming.

Stormcoming is my name for the first day of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which occurs on June 1st. In heavy-hit areas, the first day of the season gets a decent amount of attention, because it’s the big kickoff--in Florida (I can’t speak for elsewhere), there’s actually a big tax-free holiday every year specifically for hurricane preparation items. 

Tropical storms and hurricanes can absolutely form before the “official” start of the season, though these are much rarer. There have only been 87 off-season storms, with the strongest that ever made landfall only capping out at 70 MPH winds. [x] [x]

By the time Stormcoming arrives, climate scientists have already given us a list of prepared storm names, as well as predictions on how active the season is going to be. Right now we’re looking at a season with a projected eighteen named storms, where the average is about thirteen. [x]

So what’s the point of Stormcoming?

Stormcoming is a time for communities to come together (with responsible social distancing in the time of covid!!!) and prepare! It’s a time to take stock of your supplies, get your affairs in order, and brace for the coming chaos. It’s also, ideally, a big party before things go completely off the rails and we all have to hunker down.

This year, I’m doing a big Stormcoming project--I want to have some sort of Stormcoming and Hurricane Season content going up on this blog every few days until the end of the season in November.

I crave community, especially in my spiritual practice, so I invite you to celebrate Stormcoming with me! Think about what Hurricane Season preparation means to you, both on a mundane and a spiritual level. 

If you don’t live in a hurricane zone, you can still participate--think of Stormcoming as a disaster preparedness and community building opportunity all around. Do you live where other storms are common? Other forms of natural disaster? Does your bug-out bag need updating? Stormcoming is a good time!

Ultimately, Stormcoming really is about getting ready for the worst alongside your community, and battening down the hatches to weather the storm. That storm can be literal or metaphorical, and to me the best way to celebrate Stormcoming is to think of it as both.

I’ll be using the tags #Stormcoming and #Stormcoming2020 for all of my Stormcoming content, so please feel free to use them! Make your own content or just follow along--I hope that the tags will be filled with storm aesthetics, storm magic, celebrations of weather deities, and so much more.

If you didn’t know, NOAA has a searchable database of 150 years’ worth of hurricanes! You can look up paths, strengths, total damage, casualties, and pretty much anything else you might want to know about any hurricane over the past century and a half.

It’s neat as hell and has a lot of use for anyone who, like me, puts a lot of spiritual significance on regional weather and climate.

I’d intended to do so much more, but...*gestures at everything.*