Stop criticizing meteorologists
Hurricane Henri could have devastated Connecticut
As Hurricane Henri churned off the Atlantic Coast on Aug. 21, Connecticut braced for a worst-case scenario. A direct hit somewhere around New Haven and a march up the I-91 corridor through the most densely populated part of the state would have brought devastating winds and rain to our doorsteps. Eversource was looking at the prospect of hundreds of thousands of homes without power. A shutdown of that magnitude would have paralyzed the state.
But then we got lucky. The storm veered a bit to the east and weakened into a tropical storm as it crossed cooler waters. Henri’s punch proved less powerful than predicted. There were scattered outages, localized flooding and a handful of evacuations. For most in the state, it was little more than a rough summer storm.
Now, predictably and sadly, the negativism that is increasingly endemic to our culture has kicked into gear. The meteorologists got it wrong. The storm was overhyped. The weather people just want to frighten us. Some of the attacks have reportedly turned personal.
It wasn’t just local television folks making the call here. Experts working for the state and Eversource were bracing for a direct hit. The National Hurricane Center fired out warnings as Henri churned toward Connecticut.
And here’s the thing: They didn’t get it wrong. The circumstances changed.
Hurricanes are massive systems that we have learned how to track and predict, to a degree. But meteorology is not a perfect science, and if we’ve learned anything these last 18 months it’s that nature has a way of letting us know we’re not nearly as in control as we think we are.
What’s the alternative anyway? Failing to prepare for an event like this is a formula for disaster and death. Maybe some people left their homes that didn’t need to, but that meant there was less of a chance someone might get trapped by rising water. Maybe we overstocked food and medicine, but imagine a scenario where the drugstores are shut down and someone was desperate for a critical medication. Plans were canceled, but plans can be rescheduled.
What’s remarkable about the backlash is that we’ve been here before. Just a year ago, in fact, with Tropical Storm Isaias. And Sandy before that. And Irene. And the October snowstorm. And a blizzard or
two. We have lived through nature’s fury, and we know how dangerous things can get.
If you want to worry about something, worry about this: Henri was a warning shot. As we continue to take half-measures to slow the warming of our planet, the oceans will grow even warmer. And hurricanes feed off warm waters, meaning New England could see more strong storms heading our way.
So while Henri may have fizzled a bit, the next storm charging our way may not. And our lovely, heavily treed
state just isn’t equipped to handle the winds that come with tropical storms and hurricanes. It wouldn’t have taken too much in terms of wind speed or direction to change the story we are all writing today.
So ease up on our local friends at the weather desks who worked through the weekend to keep us all up to speed, tempting as it may be to join the chorus of negative critics trying to outsnark each other on Facebook and Twitter. We dodged a disaster and stayed safe in the process.