[The devil comes]
The devil comes most
of the time, this horrendous
event advised him by some
wile. I give him
orders, and sometimes
his power is another
fundamental change,
a dress of green,
the cloaks of wind,
Laura,Maria,
the dual roles destruction
trauma plays, the clatter
and fall, the squall.
There can no longer
be any questions.
San Juan, New Orleans,
the marine strata,
lives subjected,
all a coherent taxonomy--
only dead-coloured
wind at the door, increasingly
powerful, dangerous.
The documents no longer
exist. Earth’s
ecosystems, perpetrators,
victims. A blow
on the back
a perceived one
on the arm, no longer
potential,
they are undeniable.
That tall gentleman, the
1000 year storm, petroleum-
laden salt-air, climbing
the wind’s wake, dark
water, white foam.
I answered him:
I will go, obedient,
seeking and implicated
in every moment
and movement.
Searise, a God, “Righteous &
Holy; a Devil
come down in great
wrath.” Dual roles,
mutually interwoven
hurricane, storm surge, the
burning of one
in the chemical
fire, slicked water
alight. Not of diabolical
origin, rather, a last
burst of the storm—
final wind, quieted waves,
the suddenness
of nothing, so remarkably
escaped unscathed,
soundlessness.
All still save
water dripping from
the wrong things
onto the wrong things.
And the sun
insulated from society
breaking over the sea
that was only last week
land.
In August 2020, Hurricane Laura arrived in Louisiana. The force of the storm was such that it tied with the Last Island hurricane of 1856 as the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in that state.
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Dominica and St. Croix. Between 2017 and the beginning of 2020, FEMA and HUD had failed to rebuild any houses in Puerto Rico or the hospital in Vieques. The lack of shelter and facilities exacerbated the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
San Juan, Puerto Rico, and New Orleans, Louisiana, regularly experience hurricanes “brushing” against them and even making landfall. There is something chilling, however, about the devastation and ongoing impact of recent storms, such as Katrina and Maria. This impact is a measure of the storms’ power but also of the way the United States cares for and will tend to its people as these storms become more common.
Referring to 2017’s Hurricane Harvey. There is an ongoing debate about how rare powerful storms were in the past. This is a means to give us context for acceleration
Globally, the sea rose an estimated 16–21 cm (6.3–8.3 in) between 1900 and 2016. Between 1993 and 2017 the average annual sea level rise was 7.5 cm (3.0 in). The rate of rise is accelerating.
For example, Lake Charles, after Hurricane Laura in 2020, the heart of cancer alley.
