Dad needs to batten down the hatches

Published by admin on Wed, 09/04/2019 - 10:52am
By: 
Steve Lyon
Anytime a hurricane takes aim at
Florida, I take notice.
My dad lives in the quiet suburban
community of Deltona with my
stepmom. It’s located between Daytona
Beach and Orlando in central Florida.
It’s a golfers paradise
with something like 20 wellmanicured
courses within a
30-minute drive. My dad has
never picked up the game,
and I don’t see him starting
at age 86.
They get used to hurricanes
in Florida, especially in
September, which is the start
of the season. It’s a meteorological
phenomenon that
takes place out in the ocean
and creates a swirling mass
of clouds with a distinct eye
in the center.
I’ve never been in a hurricane or even
close to one. I can image it would be
scary. The wind is incredibly loud and
destructive. We had a few gusts through
Weiser this summer of 30 miles per hour.
Multiply that by four or five times in intensity
and lasting for hours.
I’ve visited my dad over the years.
The last time I was down there homes
still had blue tarps on the roofs where
they had been ripped away by a previous
hurricane.
Everybody was waiting in line for a
contractor to fix their roof. It can take
many months to get the work done by
legitimate and not-so-legitimate roofers.
My dad lives inland far enough that
they typically don’t see the full force of
a hurricane. The storms tend
to weaken as they move
over land. Even so, howling
winds blowing nonstop for a
few hours can do some damage.
Shingles can get blown
off, trees are uprooted, the
garbage cans blow into the
next county, and of course
the power goes out.
When I called the other
night, he said they were
planning to sit through what
was left of hurricane Dorian
at some neighbor’s home.
They have been through
this drill before and I assume have made
some preparations.
As of Tuesday morning, Dorian was a
Category 2 hurricane, downgraded from
the Category 5 that hit the exposed Bahamas
with tremendous force and 150
mph winds.
The path Dorian was taking looked
like Florida would not be hit as hard as
earlier projections indicated last week.
If it moves up the eastern seaboard, the
storm lashes the Carolinas.
I’ll check in to see how Deltona
weathered Dorian later this week. My
dad will certainly have some stories to
tell. He always does.
• • •
It has been a summer of carnage on
Idaho highways for motorcyclists.
There have been 18 people on motorcycles
killed. The most recent fatalities
were two older riders on a bike that
crashed in the median on I-84.
In some of the tragic accidents, drivers
have been at fault. In others, the motorcyclists
have lost control.
I’ve toyed with the idea of getting
a bike in the past – a vintage Triumph
looks like a cool bike to cruise the backroads.
It’s sort of a midsize bike I could
handle. I don’t think I could even keep a
big Harley upright.
I’m just not comfortable with the idea
of getting out on I-84 on a motorcycle
with the semi-trucks, the speeding cars
and the traffic. I’ve seen too much crazy
stuff drivers do between here and Boise.
I don’t know what led to all the motorcycle
fatalites or if any could have been
prevented this summer. Has it been high
speeds or inattentive drivers at fault?
It’s made me think to look twice for
motorcyclists when I am on the road.
Steve Lyon is the editor of the Weiser
Signal American. Contact him at

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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