There’s nothing scarier than living in the “cone of uncertainty.” That was my first thought when I started seeing the path that Hurricane Ian was taking a couple of days ago. The “cone” is the tracking tool that the National Hurricane Center shares to provide some sense of where a storm may land, putting those within the areas that could be affected on notice. As someone who called South Florida home for more than a decade and lived through three hurricanes — Frances and Jeanne in 2004, Wilma in 2005 — I learned to follow the “cone” updates religiously. And to hate them when it seemed the inevitable was about to happen.
We often speak of hurricanes in terms of the physical damage they cause. Already, some are predicting that Hurricane Ian, which made landfall Wednesday afternoon on Florida’s southwest coast, could result in up to $70 billion in destruction, which would make it one of the most costly storms in U.S. history. And a major hit for insurance companies. But there’s another toll that comes with the arrival of each hurricane — or even the looming threat of one. Namely, the stress that it causes. Certainly, the dread of dealing with storms is a reason cited by many for …