Its bothered me for years, and now after Charley, (which would have been named Clyde if the namers had any imagination at all) it's time to take some action. When they first started alternating names in 1979, the first three male storms (Bob, David and Fred) were extremely destructive, and you would have hoped they might have gotten a clue, and at least started giving the male hurricanes androgenous names (would you be scared of a "Pat" or a "Sandy"? Me neither.) Unfortunately, it hasn't gotten any better since then. Gilbert, Hugo, Floyd, Mitch--should I continue? I grew up in Homestead and experienced it first hand, and I can promise you I'm never going to name any son I have Andrew.
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
Shep,
"Charley" made me think of the parfume named after a TV series. Sounded distinctly feminine to me...
fallow
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I had a female boss once that we all called 'Charlie'. (Or possibly 'Charley'. Never saw it written down in that form.) Given the name she had, it was an obvious choice for a nickname.
Personally, I don't care which gender names they give to hurricanes. I think giving them human names is a ridiculous custom to begin with.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Well, Charley is a fitting name, at the least.
Because, as you all know, char is a word in the old language that means death!
Choo choo! Choo choo!
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
quote:I think giving them human names is a ridiculous custom to begin with.
I agree. I think we should all push to name the next one "Fluffy".
Also, I wanted to express my alarm after opening this thread, thinking I had clicked the one about romanylass and her baby.
[ August 14, 2004, 11:11 AM: Message edited by: Da_Goat ]
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Wendy
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Strom
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Mittens.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I can smell your brains.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
{{{{{{{{Shepherdess}}}}}}}} My aunt was living in Miami Beach when Andrew made his appearance... I know quite well what you went through and are probably still going through.
and {{{{{{{{{{{Icarus}}}}}}}}}}} I was glad to see your pictures on the other thread that showed how little damage you sustained this time. Wish your neighbor had been so lucky too.
Goody
[ August 14, 2004, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: Goody Scrivener ]
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I was in Kendall, about 3 miles from Country Walk. Our neighborhood got trashed just as bad, but received less attention because it was not as large.
My parents' house was destroyed with us in it. For several years afterward, I would have occasional flashbacks.
This storm scared me more than other storms I have weathered since Andrew, because it changed course so unexpectedly, and we were so unprepared. And because we had an insurance snafu a couple of weeks ago, which we have not had time to correct. If it had hit us, our insurance would have covered our structure, but none of our belongings. And unlike Georges and Floyd, back when we still lived in Miami, we did not have a chance to put up shutters or anything. But driving around surveying the damage today, I was struck by how much less emotionally wrenched I was than I might have been. No flashbacks to Andrew or anything like that. I guess after 12 years, the memory is becoming less visceral.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
Shepardess, I thought too that they should have named the storm after Bonnie, Clyde. After all, they were billed as a "one-two punch."
If we're going to complain about the masculine names being attached all the time to really destructive hurricanes, then maybe we should have Arnold Schwarzeneggar compile a list of "girlie men" names we can use. Maybe that in itself would turn the hurricanes into powder puffs.
I wonder why the names are all English names? How about names like "Pedro," and "Hernandez," and "Igor"? Of course, if we open it up to all languages, then sooner or later some big hurricane is going to bear down on the U.S. named "Saddam," or "Osama." We can't have Al Qaeda taking credit for our weather disasters.
Like Da_Goat seemed to suggest, we might use the names of animals. Of course, it might sound a bit Oriental to have "Hurricane Toad" hitting us in "The Year of the Rat."
[ August 15, 2004, 03:21 PM: Message edited by: Ron Lambert ]
Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
However, with Charlie we can blame our weather on the Vietnamese.
Posted by Altįriėl of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
I really don't care, hurricanes don't reach CA anyway. However, as a feminist, I agree lets name the next one *thinking*
Lorraine!
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Actually, they have been using more international or "ethnic" names. And oddly spelled variants of traditional American names, like Charley.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Hurricanes do affect California. And if global warming continues, they might actually hit California at hurricane strength. Besides, you are paying for FEMA: the federal insurance&mortgage subsidy for those who choose to live in hazardous areas.
[ August 15, 2004, 09:27 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Altįriėl of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Not really, my mom does.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
My sister emailed us about it, and I thought she had finally seen the movie based on Jack Weyland's novel.
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
I really don't care, hurricanes don't reach CA anyway. However, as a feminist, I agree lets name the next one *thinking*