Don't Panic, but check the lifeboats

Hurricane Debby may well be gearing up for a run at New York City. This has been a year of tenative tropical storms getting in a frenzy off Cape Hatteras and then thinking better of it, but complacency isn't called for. The Accumulated Cyclone Energy index is still set to 'ass kick.' And what we have now is what forecaster Pasch calls "A VIGOROUS TROPICAL WAVE IS LOCATED A FEW HUNDRED MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS."

To paraphrase Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a Cape Verde-type hurricane can rain destruction on Manhattan. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."