By the time Jimina hit Mexico, it was no longer technically a hurricane, though it still did huge amounts of damage. Image 1 shows Jimena at full category 4 hurricane strength in late August, and the other two satellite photos show the diminished tropical storm as it lashed out at Mexico in early September. The picture of the storm on the ground is in Baja California.

Hurricane Jimena News at Huffington Post

Satellite photos by NOAA/Getty Images. Photo of the storm in Baja California by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images.

It's true, the storms look menacing, but by the time they hit land in Hawaii, Enrique will be all but broken up, and Felicia will be a tropical depression, bringing lots of rain, but not the damaging winds of a hurricane. In this image, Felicia is a category 3 hurricane, and Enrique is a weakening tropical storm.

Granted, these two images are of storms that aren't likely to cause too much damage, but it feels strange getting excited about pictures of disasters and dangerous storms. XKCD also commented on this "disaster voyeurism" phenomenon. I don't know, though... I still love these stunning storm images.

Hurricane Felicia and Tropical Storm Enrique [NASA Earth Observatory]

This image was taken in the "electric railway powerhouse" after a fire ripped through Baltimore and destroyed about 1500 buildings over 70 city blocks. For those of us in the U.S. watching Ike rip through Texas, there's a comfort in knowing that our cities have been surviving disasters for a long time.

What's the worst disaster your city or town has survived?

Top image via ISS; bottom image via Shorpy (thanks Joshua Glenn!).

Though it's likely that a bigger assault on New Orleans would have caused the rebuilt levee to collapse — and indeed it might still collapse under the pressure of all that water — the US Army Corps of Engineers is hasty to point out that the repairs are not complete yet. Still, there is hope that the data they gathered during yesterday's storm will make the completed levees more likely to be flood-proof. Certain areas, like the industrial area you see above, were flooded despite preparations. But while most of Louisiana's coast suffered a blackout, New Orleans remained powered up. Sloshing levee photo above the fold by Stephen Morton/Getty Images. Topped-up levee and industrial area photos by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

The most horrifying images and stories that emerged after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans were all related to the evacuees. Or rather, the lack of evacuees, since the process of getting people out of town went so badly that casualties were high and tales of evacuation centers grim (people were beaten and raped in the city's emergency facilities, for example). But when Hurricane Gustav threatened this year, evacuation began days in advance and free busses and trains carried more than 2 million people out of the New Orleans and Louisiana coast areas. Of course, about 10,000 people remained behind in New Orleans. But that was by choice. Perhaps because huge portions of the population never returned after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has become one of the most easy-to-evacuate cities in the world. Evacuee photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images

In the months leading up to Hurricane Gustav, images like this one by the graffiti artist Banksy started showing up on the levees. New Orleans has already started to weave its status as a weather disaster city into its public art. This is significant because when storm disasters become part of the city's self-image, part of its mythology even, it can serve to reinforce its citizens' ability to mobilize in a disaster. This playful image may seem frivolous when compared to the faces of those evacuees above, but it's testimony to the way New Orleans residents view themselves as storm survivors.

Now it simply remains to be seen if the city and the US government can finish those repairs in time to save the city from a truly dangerous storm. We've got evidence now that it can endure a category 2, but there is already another hurricane called Hanna brewing over the Atlantic — soon to be followed by more in this storm-heavy season. Will New Orleans go the way of Mayan cities, which some believe were abandoned due to years of terrible weather? Or will it become a hardened city of the future, prepared for disasters that could become part of everyday life as our climate slowly transforms?

Banksy art photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images