In June 2001, after weeks of drought, Louisiana governor Mike Foster asked his constituents to pray for rain in the Bayou State. Fortunately, it worked and the remnants of a tropical storm (Allison) moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico. Less fortunately, Allison dumped up to three feet of rain on the state, causing massive flooding. Said one Louisiana resident: "We may have prayed too long."

["A congresswoman from Texas is complaining because hurricanes are never given African-American names," Conan O'Brien reported in August 2003. "As a result, today, the National Weather Service gave a shout-out to Hurricane Tyrell."]