Leave out Hurricane Irene – which was not quite destructive enough to merit blanket television coverage – and the major atmospheric tumult afflicting the east coast of America in recent times has coincided with my being there. Some three years ago, as I reported in this column at the time, I flew into “Snowmageddon” Washington on the last plane out of London. “The last plane out.” Fainter hearted men might have stayed home, but I resolved to boldly go.