Hurricane warnings

Don't be lulled into a false sense of security, the NOAA folks said.

The Miami Herald reports today, "There's a 70 percent chance of 14 to 20 named storms, including Alex and Bonnie, eight to 12 hurricanes with four to six becoming major ones. 'We're to the period when you start to see these waves rolling off of Africa. Everything is in place for a really active year,' said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal forecaster for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center."

Oh goody. At my advanced age of 13, I remember the hurricanes of '04, spent cowering beneath the bed as winds threatened to beat in the windows. Then, after Frances, suffering from the heat and bone-penetrating dampness. There was no electricity and thus, no air conditioning, for nine days.

A cat of my heft doesn't do well in those conditions.

I say my mantra: Just because there's a chance of named storms doesn't mean they will be big ones. It doesn't mean they will hit the U.S. coast or us.