So Irma has come and gone, and while there are areas of Florida that were completely devastated, it could have been a whole lot worse. If the hurricane’s track (and, BTW, kudos to the National Hurricane Center for virtually nailing it) had stayed just off the west coast in the Gulf instead of veering slightly inland (we’re talking, like, only fifty miles here) or took the path Donna did in 1960 we’d be talking a catastrophe. As it was, for folks like my mother-in law in Port Richey and my sister-in-law’s ex and two kids (that aren’t kids anymore) up in Citrus County the Gulf Coast got nothing more than a blowy rainstorm. Like many, they chose to ignore the local authorities and didn’t evacuate. All I can say is, to quote the great Tom Petty, “you got lucky“.

Far be it from me to question motives, but might all those Hollywood celebrities who gathered to raise money for the victims of Harvey and Irma be doing so only because some mucky-muck higher up in the movie studio echelon looked at the lousy a year the movie industry has been having and the outpouring of criticism Hollywood has been receiving for its incessant Trump-basing, and decided some positive press was in order?

…and while I’m certain the estimated $44 million they raised will be gladly accepted, forgive me if I resist patting these limousine liberals on the back for emerging from their walled-in and gated communities to do something for, y’know, the common folk. Heck, Oprah ($2.9 billion), Cher ($330 million), and George Clooney ($180 million) have net worths between them more than $3.5 billion. What a bunch of troopers.

…and they simply couldn’t stop themselves from keeping politics out of it, bleating over and over their climate change agenda. Gimme a break. Joe Bastardi of Weatherbell.com has been preaching over and over the fact that while we’ve had two bad hurricanes this year, this is nothing compared to years between 1945 and 1955 when the U.S. was hit repeatedly by hurricanes, and not small ones either. Look at 1947 alone! The fact is, as the migration to places south of the Mason-Dixon continues as the country grows older and folks want to escape the winters and the high cost of living in the Northeast “blue states”, more and more folks and property will be put at risk by the natural course of events that occur when the tropics light up every year.

Two cases in point: look at the 1954 hurricane season: can you imagine the damage and costs if you had storms like Hazel and Carol if they were to take the same tracks today?

None of this has anything to do with climate change – at least the man-made kind. Just something to think about…