Rocking Like a Hurricane

We got quite the deluge in central Wisconsin this afternoon. As soon as I left work, it started lightning, thundering and raining hard. Very hard.

I didn't mind. The grass needs it. My car could definitely use a wash. I love the smell of rain. And, frankly, it's pretty pleasant compared to what my friends in the south and southeast have endured this fall.

Say what you will about crappy, cold Midwest weather, but it beats getting rocked like a hurricane. A friend of mine who lives in central Florida shared these photos recently to give us some perspective about what Hurricane Irma did and why Maria scares the poop out of them.

First the unbelievable wind... Can you imagine flying debris that can do this? Holy crap. That would be scary as heck. It's amazing a lot more people didn't die from fatal injuries. Thank you, tree, for taking the brunt of that punishment.

Of course, the wind (and flooding) did no favor to anyone as it blew things over that subsequently fell onto power lines, knocking out electricity for millions of people. Yes, millions.

Want to know how people come together? The Miami Zoo has been a staging area for utility trucks and teams from all over – not just the U.S., but even Canada. Wow.

And guess what these women are in line for? Not ice cream, that's for sure. They are waiting to take laundry from linemen so they have a bright spot in their day when they wear a clean uniform AND restore power.

It's a sad situation but certainly gives me hope for mankind. There are good, supportive, helpful, caring people out there. Everywhere. It's unfortunate it takes extreme conditions to bring some out of the woodwork.

But once they're out, maybe they'll stay.