Inside Out: Umbrellas Gone Wild

By Claire O'Neill
Published October 29, 2012 at 12:04 PM CDT
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Hurricane Sandy's winds are already picking up in Cape May, N.J. Kim Vo (right) captures a Kodak moment of her friend, Lisa Cellucci. ()
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A storm called Kyrill sweeps through Germany with hurricane-strength winds in 2007. ()
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Hurricane Isaac wins in New Orleans, 2012. ()
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And Hurricane Isaac wins again. ()
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Tiffaney Battle (perfect last name) and her dog, Zach, versus Hurricane Isabel, Alexandria, Va., 2003. ()
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Hurricane Wilma takes on New York City, 2005. ()
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Umbrella attack during Hurricane Wilma in New York City, 2005.  ()
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Kyrill in Germany, 2007. ()
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A man in Germany gets no sympathy during Emma — another storm with hurricane-strength winds, in 2008. ()
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New Yorkers brace against winds from Hurricane Gloria, 1985. ()
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Kayla Mejia of Annapolis, Md., struggles again winds from Hurricane Irene, 2011. ()

Here's one thing that continues to elude me: the fact that we humans have literally been using umbrellas for centuries — and we've still yet to engineer a windproof rain-shielding device. And even though we know this, we continue to buy, and use, and break them. Constantly.

Or, giving the masses the benefit of the doubt: Maybe the nefarious umbrella manufacturers realize that we will keep buying crappy contraptions because we have no choice.

But in the battle of umbrella versus storm, umbrella clearly doesn't stand a chance.

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Claire O'Neill