Irma la Dur

I just spoke with my brother. He lives in Vero Beach, about due east Orlando and directly in Irma's path.  This will be his fifth hurricane,  and he shows no concern. "Just another thunderstorm," he says. The ocean is seven miles to his east, so storm surges are not a threat. Mar a Lago, to the south , lies a few feet from the ocean's edge at an elevation of about eight feet, roughly twelve feet beneath the probable surge. Most of Palm Beach will be submerged as the ocean races west towards the inland waterway. Mink coats won't float, and Bentleys will lose their resale value, unlike my brother's gassed-up Dodge truck. He, his wife and their  menagerie will stay inside and wait it out and look for air lifted mink coats in the yard when the sun comes out. I'll miss those land line calls, though. Cell phones suck in the best of times.
     And remember that a truckload of dry clothes beats a stadium of tearful prayers.