With Hurricane Isabel on the way (or should I say the fringe of Hurricane Isabel, given that current plots have it heading well inland), I got to thinking a little bit about the hurricanes that I've been through here. Most didn't amount to too much, other than a lot of hype and increased sales of plywood and duct tape.

The first hurricane I really remember is Belle, which it in August 1976. It set the tone, as with all the warnings the actual effects for my family and town were pretty mild. I remember power going out briefly - I was half-asleep and noticed the fan shut down - but that was about it.

The next one of any memory was Gloria in September 1985. I spent much of the day hunkered down in my friend Sean Townsend's house, as we mocked an incredibly-hyped storm of little consequence. It seems to have done worse in other parts of New England, as we got some wind and very little rain.

Then there was Bob in 1991, which came at the same time I was to start RA training in August. I am fairly sure I caught the last train in to Boston. My mom tried to talk me out of going in, but I was ready to go back after spending the summer at home. In retrospect I should have stayed and enjoyed the time with family, but in the moment... it was time to go.

As it turned out RA training was in fact delayed. I spent the time with the few RAs who had showed up and a hockey camp that couldn't leave. Funny to think that some of those kids may actually be playing for BU now. Anyway, Bob did the best job of living up to the hype, but again did more damage in other parts of the region.

The '90s sent its share of hurricanes - Bertha, Danny, and Floyd come to mind - but for the most part we were most bothered by storms not classified in the hurricane/tropical storm way. The three that stand out the most all happened around holidays - Halloween 1991, Christmas 1994, and April Fools' in 1997.

Our last storm, what was left of Tropical Storm Gordon, was pretty intense but again, not too bad.

Hurricanes up here are pretty rare, and by the time they get here they've usually been downgraded enough that we get through OK (though Cape Cod is usually a different story, and Maine seems to get whacked pretty well). It seems like 1938 was the last with any serious damage; one story I read noted that in today's dollars the 1938 storm caused upwards of $3.5 billion in damage. I would be very happy to not see that reoccur.

On the downside, it looks like Isabel may scotch the golf day we're having on Friday, as we're due for a fair bit of rain. Not sure what the backup plan is, perhaps it'll involve sandbags and localized flooding.