Hurricane Rita and my beloved Cuba

There are four relatively moderate seasons where I live, with winter providing the more extreme weather (freezing rain isn't any fun). But it's nothing like living in earthquake-prone lands, tornado country, underneath a volcano or the southeast US. I cannot even begin to imagine a hurricane, let alone a whole stream of them over the course of a year. As I watch for news of Rita, my concern is not so much the U.S. - don't get me wrong - I do care, but they're big kids and should be able to look after themselves. I worry more about the Caribbean islands, especially Cuba; as the power systems and the infrastructure are aging. Fortunately, this time, Rita was only a category 2 when she skimmed by Havana, and left only 210 mm of rainfall in a couple of hours. Yeesh!

CNN is covering Galveston, of course. All the best to the folks in the way, may you and your families stay safe and dry.