"Jo Schaper" wrote in message
...
Several comments:

Hey, if you chose to stay, great.


Chose? It was half the size of Florida. A small error in the
track could make Key West no safer than Tallahassee on the opposite
end of the state. The whole point is that hurricanes are getting
much larger in size. There was no point in trying to evacuate from
this one.



But shouldn't you have prepared a bit
beforehand, in terms of squirreling water/gasoline/food and so forth?
How about Parrot food?


Had 8 lbs of parrot food, 8 cans of tuna, 4 cans of chicken, 3 jars
of mayo, a box of pudding cups, 2 boxes of fruit things in syrup, one large
bag of pot, 4 12-packs of mountain dew code red (nectar of the caffeine gods)
instead of water, a small bottle of bleach to purify water, 2 bottles of
wine, 4 cans of beans, 8 cans of soup.

And no can opener.

A knife and a needle nose vise grips work ok though.
The day before I decided to buy a little table top barbecue
and charcoal. Note, having charcoal makes you very popular~
Spent the first two days grilling up everything we could
before it spoiled. Ate great the first two days, then
....'urban camping' begins.




People in earthquake areas have supplies, and houses reinforced.


So do we, we have the best building codes anywhere since Andrew
in 92. Most buildings here can take 110 mph winds. Which is no
small thing.



People in flood zones have a plan, and usually a small boat. They know
which roads flood easily and which stay dry. They know when to stay and
when to go.


So do we.


People in tornado alley have basements and storm cellars.


There are no basements in Florida. Any hole more than 12 inches deep
fills with water. The whole place is built on a swamp...er....wetlands.


People who live in ice and snow winterize their cars, carry a sleeping
bag, a change of clothes, and usually some snacks in the winer.

What is it about hurricane "victims"? All I ever see them on TV doing is
hammering plywood over windows. That is a good start, of course. When
the storm is over, the first thing which happens is the appeal to
charities and the feds."Oh, pity me, I'm stupid..."


That's what I say whenever I see those cavers getting stuck underground.
I root for the cave.



Just came back from a town whose downtown a mile wide was leveled two
years ago from a 4-5 strength tornado


A mile wide! This was essentially an f2 tornado that was two hundred and fifty
miles across. Six million people lost electricity. Which means losing perishable
food, water pressure, gas and money for days to weeks. Another category
of two stronger it would've been six million homeless and another hundred
billion dollar hit on the economy.



in SW Missouri. You can't tell
now---the town only lost two businesses permanently (people on the verge
of retirement) and Main Street is back in business. Yeah, the town dealt
with FEMA and SEMA, but mostly the town put itself back together, with
local contractors doing cost-share labor. No people screaming "we need
jobs and health care." Hey, if everything's broke, there is plenty of
work that needs doing, and you don't need to be a journeyman carpenter
to know how to hammer a nail straight.

The *Government" doesn't help. It seems to harass self-sufficient
people, while abandoning the clueless.

I really don't understand this. Of course, I am of an age where civil
defense training and preparedness were part of our science/health
classes...we expected nuclear attack any day, so we were taught and
learned tricks for living on one's own, with little external
infrastructure for weeks on end. Things like purifying water/wilderness
medicine/what you needed on hand to 'get along' for some time until
things got back to normal. Even something as simple as keeping two
week's worth of canned/boxed food in the house at all times--and even
how to use your refrigerator as an 'icebox'. Of course, there was no
way to mitigate radiation...except burrowing underground.

I'm just tagging here on Jonathan's experience...but there is something
seriously wrong with a culture which does not teach its children how to
find water, food, and shelter without a supermarket and a big brother
government to assist you. Or, even, to "know when to hold 'em and know
when to fold 'em" in dealing with a natural disaster. Sometimes,
running to safety temporarily is a *good* idea...


Considering the size of this storm, it's been a remarkably civilized and
efficient recovery. The worst civil disturbances were a few shouting
matches at gas lines and such. The police were out enforcing the
dawn to dusk curfew the first night. They were stationed at all
open gas stations and grocery stored the second day, as were
dozens of sights for free ice and water. Ice and water were
ready and waiting before the storm hit and distributed quickly.

Also the building codes are so good that it's remarkable how little
structural damage occurred. The big hole seems to be having generators
at gas stations, many are demanding they be forced to have them.
Not having gas kept people from work and opening everything back up.

All in all the pace of repairs and civility after this one was inspiring.
This one pretty much culled any weaknesses around the city, we
can take just about anything now. Miami is now as close to hurricane
proof as any city can get. Virtually all the recovery efforts were local.
Fema was a non-issue because the local govts were very well
prepared.