Here we go again

It looks as if my hometown of Pensacola, FL could be in for another bout with a tropical cyclone.

Last September, Pensacola and the surrounding area had to deal with Hurricane Ivan (check the Sept 2004 archives). Ivan was by far the strongest storm to hit the Pensacola area on record. The storm did so much damage that even nine months later, there's still damage that has not been cleaned up.

The fear that the Pensacola area had was that another storm would come before all the cleanup efforts could be made and before the city could be rebuilt. The main concern is that some of the lingering debris would be swept up and tossed becoming a projectile moving at whatever the wind speed was.

Well, the fear may be dealt with. Enter Tropical Storm Arlene, a little pinwheel of hell spinning just to the south of the western tip of Cuba. The storm is expected to move north to a general area from Panama City, FL to New Orleans, LA... that puts the Pensacola area right in the center. The good news, however, is that the storm is only expected to strengthen minorly. Good news being that Pensacola is not ready for another hurricane.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.