I love summer in New York, springtime in New York, almost any time in New York.

On April 20, 2010, at 9:45 p.m., a bubble of methane gas shot up the drill column of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and ignited. The explosion killed 11 of the 126 workers onboard, injuring 17 others, and was visible from dozens of miles away.

IN SEARCH OF STORM TRUTH: Scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville are studying the April tornadoes, according to a July 11 report at www.wsfa.com.

THE GREEN SHIRTS: A group of volunteers called the Green Shirts have been canvassing such hard-hit Jefferson County communities as Pratt City and Pleasant Grove to identify storm survivors who need additional help, according to Robin DeMonia of The Birmingham News. This includes people who lost their homes and lack the insurance or government aid needed to rebuild.

Fire is fascinating. Even if you are terrified by fire, it holds you in some amount of awe.

STORM CONCERTS: Pop star Rihanna will appear in a tornado relief concert at the BJCC in Birmingham July 11. She announced the show on Twitter. The concert is to benefit rebuilding in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, according to a post at birmingham.myfoxal.com.

THE BRITS SEE OUR PLIGHT: Displaced families in Alabama are outraged after being denied federal aid to rebuild their flattened homes due to “insufficient damage,” according to British newspaper The Daily Mail, riffing on an al.com report June 13.

As Kathryn Tucker Windham knew too well, the hardest part of a story is having to conclude it. Alabama’s doyenne of disquisition quietly wrapped up her saga at home Sunday, in her unpretentious digs on Royal Street in Selma.

Thirteen minutes. That’s, on average, how much time you have to save your life once the weather service pulls the trigger on a tornado warning.

Recent tornadoes and floods have made Mississippi and Alabama more prepared for the summer hurricane season, rather than less, emergency directors said at a recent conference in New Orleans, according to Janet McConnaughey of the Associated Press.