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

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