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Rakoua
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« on: July 14, 2008, 04:50:11 pm » |
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Thea
Lightning struck the water every few
seconds, lifting clouds of steam from the dark waters. Rain fell into the ocean,
and wind raised abnormally high waves. The stars were gone, hidden behind thick
clouds... And then the storm moved to land, to unleash its chaotic powers over
the residents of the towns that stood in its way... Hurricane Thea was making
its way toward the shore...
It was September
27th, 2005.
New
Orleans was quiet, and empty. The city had
a very active year, and 6 hurricanes had already left their mark on it. Nobody
dared to return, even though the city had survived its share of destruction
since the start of the hurricane season, it was about to face another danger...
One nobody predicted and the one that will be the final nail in the grave of
New
Orleans...
But people started to return. It was
said that it was safe now, and that they could come and reclaim their homes once
more. Or what was left of them.
High in the air, a satellite watched
over the Atlantic
Ocean. To
ground control's satisfaction, there was no sign of a storm
forming...
After all, they couldn't do another
evacuation... But what was hiding behind the data on the screen? What hid behind
back and white satellite images and heat and wind diagrams? Was there something
that was overlooked?They hoped not.
A few hours later, another satellite
flied past the same spot. It did its usual measurements, and let the Earth's
rotation let him see another spot.
But when the data were examined, a
surprise came. All the meteorologists could say was one word that would shock
the whole of South
America,
and later, the world:
«Hurricane. »
***
Thea finally made landfall on
September 30th,
2005. Her
winds ripped out trees and threw them miles away; however everything was as the
meteorologists hoped. Thea had left the warm waters and started to lose power.
But that was about to change.
New
Orleans was in panic as its residents heard
the news.
The category 5 hurricane Thea has
changed direction. It should hit New
Orleans directly. All citizens in her way
are advised to leave.
The news struck many as knives in
their hearts, as this was the third time in the season a mass evacuation was
ordered. But nobody was struck more by this horrible truth then Harry
Sutherland. He failed to predict the hurricane that hit
New
Orleans five years ago, and his faithful
mistake costed hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
He took a camera, and placed it in a
special metal cone that is normally used to measure wind speeds of tornados or
to take high quality images of them. He then took his camper van, a month's
supply of food, lots of strong chains and some tools. He then went to the
highest point in New
Orleans, chained the camera and his camper
to the ground and waited.
A few hours later, the storm was in
sight. Harry hesitated, but by the time he got out and went to release his
camper, it was too late. He caught a branch of a tree near him, but the branch
flew along with him. His body was cut and ripped apart in the vortex of
debris... And he finally met his doom as his camper hit him, and the antenna on
the top sliced his head off.
Two days later, the rescuers came.
New
Orleans was in ruins. All they the cone
with the camera in it. After studying the tape, the meteorologists made many
changes in hurricane prediction. And Harry's body? It was never found, not a
single piece of it. But he remains remembered as both the meteorologist who
saved many lives with his insane bravery, and the insane fool who died because
of an event nobody could ever erase from anyone's mind. And Thea? She
disintegrated somewhere, before another satellite image of her could be
made.
The end.
This is a tribute to all those who
died from the devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita... And a reminder that our
existence depends on the balance between nature and man.
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