For my next trick...

I tell you, great (journalistic) minds think alike...

For those of you who are new (ha ha), in my post last week, I was wondering why so many Floridians are not prepared for a hurricane, even when they are virtually certain that, sooner of later, they will be directly affected by one.

No more than a day after posting those remarks, I read two articles about the very same subject. USA Today ran a a section-front piece, covering the same statistics regarding the alarmingly high rate of unprepared people in the danger zone. They continued with a somewhat sketchy checklist for being prepared ahead of time. Pretty obvious stuff, for the most part. One item did catch my eye, though. At the top of the list: a tent. The item was followed by a parenthetical editor's comment, something to the effect of : "We're not kidding: you may have to live outside for awhile".

It seemed like sound advice: I went out and got a tent, just in case...I added it to my growing supply of hurricane-ready items.

Then, upon opening my very first electric bill (new to FL, remember?), I was again presented with evidence of just how ubiquitous the preparation issue is. There in the insert with my bill from the electric company was a section with more helpful hints about how to get ready for the inevitable.

Just like the old classroom adage that, if you have a question, chances are pretty strong that somebody else, probably more than one, is wondering about the same thing, it seems that a lot of people are thinking (and writing) about this. And that's a good thing. Keeping the issue in the public eye helps to get more folks to take action. I know it did that for me, with the tent idea. I'm getting ready. Are you?

Regards,
Stormy