Earthquake, hurricane, what’s next?

And we thought we had it bad. Over in Hawaii this week, they had, first, an earthquake and, then, a hurricane.

The earthquake, fortunately, was moderate, of only 5.4 magnitude, if anyone hereabouts knows what that means. Now we can understand the speed of Hurricane Flossie’s winds - - 105 mph in the center. And fortunately, also, that eye passed almost 85 miles from Hawaii’s Big Island.

Meanwhile, out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Dean is stirring up the waters with top winds of 40 mph and moving west, which could mean towards us. It also is moving over increasingly warmer waters, which we also know means it will increase in intensity.

We’re pretty smart when it comes to understanding hurricanes. We know that if it enters the Gulf of Mexico, it is time for us to get well prepared with the necessary essentials that can be put into our vehicles and get ready to head northward.

The good thing about hurricanes, you know in advance when they are coming. Not so with earthquakes. We’d take the former if we had a choice.

Meanwhile, we hope the Hawaiians excape major devastation from the two different forces of nature that have invaded their territory this week. And we hope Dean decides to head north this weekend and dissipate over cooler waters.

But, also, we must watch the weather, fill the gas tank, and be prepared for the worst that could happen. It almost happened in Hawaii.