The District of Columbia alert system (Alert DC) has just notified me that Tropical Storm Fay is no longer a threat to Washington D.C. The problem is that it never bothered to tell me in the first place that it could be one.

The fourth Monday of July marks the traditional start of hurricane season in the Virgin Islands. Hurricane Supplication Day is in fact celebrated as an official holiday in the U.S. part of the archipelago with dedicated services and praying around the idea of hurricanes landing on the islands. Deeply interwoven with religion, the day helps to ingrain a common notion of risk, and a community desire to be avoid the damages that a hurricane may carry. In short, the holiday may operate as a popular day in disaster preparedness.