Welcome back to Weathering the Storms for 2012!  The Hurricane season got a jump start with Tropical Storm Alberto suddenly churning up off the coast of South Carolina over the weekend.  It looks like it will skirt the coast up past North Carolina and head out to sea.  I imagine the surfers at Cape Hatteras and the rest of the Outer Banks are getting ready for some big days.  Alberto is a good reminder that there are no hard and fast rules in the emergency prep business.

A change in Leadership occurred at the National Hurricane Center, with Rick Knabb taking over as Director.  Dr. Knabb is most recently known for his work at The Weather Channel.  This is actually a return to both South Florida and the NHC as he grew up in Coral Springs and previously worked at the NHC for eight years.  I have been follower of his on Twitter @TWCDrKnabb, and his tweets were always timely and practical.  Welcome home, Dr. Knabb.

This is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.  We will talk more about that as the season progresses closer to August 24th.  This year we have already heard that we are in for a relatively slow season, with ten named storms.  In Andrew’s year, there were only six named storms, but that one, wow.

The Baptist Health family suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of Mr. Wendell Beard.  Mr. Beard provided visionary board leadership to Baptist Health South Florida, as well as Homestead Hospital and West Kendall Baptist Hospital.  Many of us had the privilege of knowing Mr. Beard, and we can attest that he was a tireless supporter of the people who work at Baptist Health.  Some people can never be replaced.  He was one of those.  Please read  his obituary in The Miami Herald.

For Mr. Beard:
“Wish that I was on ole Rocky Top
Down in the Tennessee Hills.
Ain’t no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top,
Ain’t no telephone bills”

- Felice and Beaudloux Bryant

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