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The unimaginable

1. HURRICANES SLAM FLORIDA/TSUNAMIS RAVAGE ASIA

When a panel of editors sorted out the top stories of 2004, we thought we had seen a full year - war, terror, a presidential election, and, of course, hurricanes.

Four of them in six weeks. A nation shared our disbelief as nature humbled Florida again and again and again and again.

Here's what the storms taught us: We can manufacture microprocessors and artificial organs; we can clone creatures and land space vehicles within feet of our intended target on a planet millions upon millions of miles distant. We cannot do boo about a hurricane.

Or, as it turns out, a tsunami. The horrifying images of the past week, the staggering numbers of dead, the look of despair in the faces of those who grieve may move Floridians beyond the usual empathy we feel when terrible things happen in faraway places. While the scope of the tsunami may seem different from the hurricanes, the common thread is this: The forces behind these two biggest stories of 2004 were those beyond our control.

Now, it's not as if mankind hasn't tried to get hold of such natural powers. Scientists have suggested all manner of ways to redirect hurricanes: erect giant windmills to blow them this way or that; tow icebergs to tropical waters to choke their energy supply; drop a nuclear bomb into the eye (radioactive fallout be damned).

Nuking a 'cane won't work, but the image is apropos to understanding the force we're up against: A fully developed hurricane releases heat equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes.

Pity the countless Floridians who felt that force this past season. It was the first time since record-keeping began in 1851 that four hurricanes hit Florida in one year.

It's exhausting to always have to watch one's back, and for Floridians there was no letup in 2004: Aside from a one-week lull in mid August, the National Hurricane Center was tracking and forecasting at least one storm nearly every day from July 31 through Oct. 3.

And so as Christmas approached, we thought it fitting to declare the number one headline of 2004: Florida, the Plywood State.

That was all before Sunday.

At 6:58 a.m., near the island of Sumatra, an underwater earthquake unleashed a tsunami that wiped out entire villages and generations of families all over South Asia. No warning. Eleven countries. More than 117,000 dead, and counting. For perspective: It took two decades for the United States to lose 58,000 soldiers in the Vietnam War.

We're not comparing tragedies. If you lost a loved one in the hurricanes, you're in no less pain than an Indonesian who lost a relative in Sunday's disaster. If you're from Pensacola, the images of distant flooding and decimated homes and beaches must reverberate. Certainly, Punta Gordans know what it's like to have nature slam into you without warning. (Hurricane Charley turned away from Tampa Bay at virtually the last minute, remember?)

It was all beyond our imagining, and the world seems like a smaller place than it did less than a week ago.

Information from Times wires was used in this report.

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