Welcome to the Eye

Well here we are, into another hurricane season...

(Actually this is Stormy's first hurricane season: new to Florida)

Stormy is just now beginning to gain somewhat full awareness of just how pervasive the issue of hurricane and hurricane protection is in the lives of those potentially 'in the path'...having lived in other areas, and survived a couple of natural disasters (SF quake of '89; tornadoes in the Midwest), I understand just how frightful Mother Nature can be. What I like about hurricanes (if you can like anything about them at all) is the fact that we have TIME TO PLAN when a hurricane is approaching. That is a great advantage we have in dealing with hurricanes that other areas do not enjoy when dealing with their particular type of weather problems...

SO, if there's time, why do people wait until the last minute to act? I don't get it: does it make sense, when you know trouble is headed your way, to delay? (answer: DUH, NO)...

I don't just mean delay in getting ready for the approaching storm, but also why would people delay in taking steps to protect their home against damage from these storms? Recent studies have indicated that, in the state of Florida, MORE THAN HALF of residents do not have any hurricane protection for their homes!!

Stormy is stunned by that statistic!! Also, most people in Florida have not even taken precautions to store supplies (water, dry food, batteries, etc) that could be the difference between riding out a storm in (relative) comfort, and being in 'deep doo-doo' (apologies to GHWB)...


What can we do about this? Is it the government's (state? federal?) responsibility to act? is it the people's own problem?

What do you think?

Regards,
Stormy