As a journalist, I find weather stories pathetic. It’s mainly the use of all the tragic words I despise: devastating, gushing, torn into homes, etc. But people love them. There is nothing like a natural catastrophe that gets the readership numbers up. Now, with the high winds “blasting” across Europe, killing 45 people, European papers have stuff to write about.
Call me cynical, but I have always suspected that Europeans felt slightly inferior in the “natural catastrophe” realm. I mean, the occasional flood or hailstorm pales in comparison to all the weather events going on in the US: hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes…
But now, that’s over! Europe finally has its own storm WITH A NAME – Kyrill. And, it has swept across most of Northern and Western Europe, heading east now. The funny thing is, Americans probably haven’t even heard of it yet. Well, give the PR weather machine time, Europeans are new at this.
And speaking of which, here in Prague the winds hit above 100mph yesterday and are still going strong today. It’s actually really nice to listen to the wind outside, rather than watching calm, gray skies for months.
Travel warning: check for airline and train service cancellations!