As Hurricane Ivan continued its savage sweep through the Caribbean, devastating the little island of Grenada and battering Jamaica, Stanley Goldenberg, a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami, got ready to fly out over the frenzied ocean. As a scientist, Goldenberg was thrilled by Ivan's wild beauty. As a longtime resident of Dade County, he was worried about the welfare of his wife and kids.
Like other Floridians, Goldenberg found the onslaught of wind and rain over these past few weeks somewhat surreal. No sooner had residents of the Sunshine State draped tarps over roofs damaged...