the meteorologist i grew up with cried on live TV.
i find myself worn out and scared more than ever.
i grew up in Miami, Florida. often saying i grew up where you vacationed.
but soon enough, it won’t even be able to hold its own natives.
there are always warnings about flash floods, storm surges and strong winds.
we drill sheets of steel onto our windows,
collect every canned good we can find,
plan a basic evacuation plan if need be.
being 1,000 miles away from home,
i forget about hurricane season until my mother calls naomi la lluvia no para.
“naomi the rain won’t stop,” i just choose to sigh and hope for the best.
today i woke up scrolling through my news feed,
and the first video is the longest tenured TV meteorologist in South Florida, voice cracking at the sheer image of Hurricane Milton on the satellite radar.
this hurricane alone is breaking every mathematical calculation possible;
it strengthened from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in only 12 hours.
it is heading straight towards Central Florida, and the Panhandle is still recovering from Hurricane Helene.
it’s been a while since Miami has been disastrously affected, but there’s no doubt another one is coming. and there’s more at risk than we even think. i grew up with the news, it’s the only way residents know what’s going on. what a privilege it must be to able to ignore this harsh reality.
waters are getting warmer. at Milton’s peak, the water reached 88 degrees Fahrenheit.
the coastal reefs are dying. the once-colorful underwater forest is overtaken by algae.
its red, yellow and blues turn to grey and brown hues.
every invasive species you can think of is in my backyard.
When will people finally see who climate change is affecting?
Hurricane Katrina was one storm everyone will remember.
New Orleans was left devastated; Black communities were left to rebuild on their own.
Hurricane Maria is one we often forget — Puerto Rico will always remember.
and yet we vacation here. these places are rebuilt only for consumers to take.
every year has turned into a phone call and text of best wishes.
money saved to be sent to family and friends.
but one day it won’t be enough.
i will admit for the longest time i didn’t want to process this reality,
but it’s here. whether you believe it or not, communities have been facing this slowly.
this evident death of our environment will be more than we can handle.
the earth is for us, and we are destroying it — in turn, it’s destroying us.
ecological terror is being pushed onto the people who live off these lands;
all i ask is for you to second guess your tropical spring break this year.
MiC Columnist Naomi Rodriguez can be reached at nerf@umich.edu.
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