We’re so sorry, Cyclone Alfred — but I really did not want to meet you in person. Besides, at one point, you seemed to have not moved a bloody inch all day.
We’re So Sorry, Cyclone Alfred…
As I sit here at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport overnight awaiting my flight to Brisbane — which was delayed ten hours and ten minutes because of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, on which I first covered and reported in this article — sitting in a chair that has become my home for the short night after going through hours of rearranging my itinerary that resulted from the delay, I think about the stroke of luck that I happened to time my flights that were booked months ago to perfectly coincide with the first tropical storm to impact Brisbane in approximately 50 years.
Tropical cyclones in the southern hemisphere occur opposite hurricanes in the northern hemisphere: they spin clockwise due to the Coriolis effect; and they typically move from west to east…
…but Tropical Cyclone Alfred decided to basically turn around back towards Australia after first heading east across the Pacific Ocean, which caught meteorologists by surprise — and then the forward movement of the cyclone slowed down, which prolonged the inclement weather and forced Brisbane Airport to close for two days prior to landfall finally occurring.
Final Boarding Call
So I sit here and wait, with too much time in the airport but not enough time to book a hotel room, grab a shuttle to it, sleep for maybe three or four hours, and then head back to the airport to first go through the security checkpoint before arriving at the gate to board the airplane at 6:10 in the morning. Last minute lodging reservations are typically expensive.
Travel cannot always run smoothly. Delays and cancelations eventually become part of the territory for people who travel, as they cannot be avoided — and they do become the subject of good stories.
I hope you slept well overnight. If not, I have a song to sing to you as a lullaby — but you will not get a butter pie. See if you can guess which song I am parodying:
We’re so sorry, Cyclone Alfred
We’re so sorry if we were forced to stay away
We’re so sorry, Cyclone Alfred
But long ago we left our home
And the result is a significant delay
We’re so sorry, but we haven’t heard from the airline all day
We’re so sorry, Cyclone Alfred
But when the itinerary changes again
We’ll be sure to use the airport lounge
We’re so sorry, Cyclone Alfred
But you hadn’t moved a bloody inch all day
We’re so sorry, Cyclone Alfred
But the itinerary’s in chaos
And we’re so easily caught delayed
Well, now I did it. I cannot get the ridiculous original song out of my head. That is just great…
Photograph ©2025 by Brian Cohen.
