Hurricanes and politics.

It was a dark and stormy night, while the moon glowed bright and orange above the clouds, illuminating the storm as it raged at sea, slowly making landfall far to the north.

Millions of humans hunkered down in homes, some safe, some not, while governors north and south ordered evacuations.  Stocked with extra water, batteries, food and booze, we awaited this newest of natures onslaughts.

Businesses closed, governments readied themselves for the storm by closing administrative offices and preparing emergency workers and shelters to assist those unfortunate enough to be too close to the sea’s reach as the storm clawed itself ashore.  News reporters spoke live on camera, guys ashore, ladies waist deep in the dangerous waves, titillating their millions of viewers with pictures of rising water smashing itself over seawalls and cascading into empty subway stations.  More bad news as a beautiful tall ship, the HMS Bounty, sank at sea, and the Coast Guard rescued all but two of her crew.  Another ship, a 700 ton tanker, was tossed onto a New York street like a toy, and an eleven foot surge of water smashed cars together in the tunnels connecting New York to the mainland.

As the storm slammed ashore, trees were swept away, buildings crumbled and construction cranes toppled.  Power stations exploded, plunging half of New York City into total darkness to match the outages affecting millions more on the mainland.  Half of the New York power grid was taken offline to prevent further damage. Water crept higher and higher, to levels unprecedented, inundating entire cities and trapping residents too stubborn to leave.  

First responders dashed to the rescue, pulling people out of attics and busing them to safer places inland, dodging the sharks exploring the flooded front yards of New Jersey.  Firefighters in New York rescued dozens of residents as their houses burned to the ground.  The National Guard in New Jersey rescued hundreds of residents from homes in flooded Atlantic City after their mayor failed to enforce the State's evacuation orders.

Slowly, the storm made its way inland, tearing itself apart, splashing itself across the landscape, fusing part of itself with colder air creeping stealthily south from Canada, dumping inches of cold, wet heavy snow on the hapless humans far below.

As the wind subsides, the growl of its passing gradually diminishes and fades away, the remaining trees slowly ending their mad twisting overnight dance with the wind, while the humans creep cautiously out of their hidden refuges to survey the changed world around them.

And as the Governor of New York speaks to his people, talking of the storm, the damage, the need to rebuild, and the future of similar storms as severe as this one if not worse, Fox News cuts the feed as they refuse to broadcast any references to Global Warming.