Riding the storm out. Don't be a snowflake.

I'm sure most of you watched the "live" media coverage of the recent hurricanes. Did you learned anything from it?

Within a 2 week period the US had 2 Category 4 hurricanes make landfall in Texas and Florida. Texas received 52 inches of rainfall over a 5 day period causing massive flooding and property damage to our fourth largest metro area. The Florida Keys took a direct hit with the destruction of 25% of the buildings and severe property damage to the rest. The entire state of Florida had flooding and storm surge; especially in the southern portion. 7.8 million customers lost power and 60,000 workers from all over the country are still working feverishly to restore service. Approximately 1 million customers in GA and SC lost power as well. There is major tree damage. Food, water, fuel and batteries are unobtainable in many ares...difficult to find in others. Cellular phone service and the internet are out in many areas too. At one point before Irma made landfall 6 million people clogged the interstates in a desperate attempt to evacuate. At least 200,000 who could'nt leave sought shelter in government buildings. Fuel and motels became non existent.

During the 60's and early 70's I spent my summers in the Orlando area with an aunt and uncle; so I'm very familiar with Florida.

We rode more than one storm out. My uncle always said there were two kinds of people in FL...real Floridians and the snowflakes. Real Floridians knew better than to live on the coast and always prepared for hurricane season. Snowflakes live on the beach, never prepare and panic every time there is a storm.

I've watched a lot of both kinds of people in the news the past few days and some of them really are a special kind of stupid.

So here's my perspective for all those "panic preppers" out there.

Unless you're a special kind of stupid, you know you live in a hurricane prone area. Even if there hasn't been a major storm in years, you know one WILL come some time in the future. So, why aren't you prepared NOW?

Every time a hurricane begins to brew out in the ocean you always have a week or two of advance notice; so why do you procrastinate till the last minute, then rush to the store and fight with the hoards of unprepared over "essential" supplies?

If you live along the coast, in a low lying area prone to flooding or in a mobile home why do you not have a evacuation plan?

Unless you are a special kind of stupid you KNOW several things WILL happen during a hurricane.

Gas and propane will become unavailable or at best expensive and extremely hard to find.

Same for water, food, batteries and generators. They will disappear from the store shelves overnight.

ALL the interstates will become clogged with traffic as panicked people make a mad dash to run from the storm.

There WILL be extremely high winds with flooding and the loss of electricity.

Trees and power lines will come down with debris scattered everywhere. Roads will become impassable making travel dangerous or impossible in many areas.

Communications will be difficult if not impossible...cell phones, the internet, tv stations etc. may all go down.

And, when the storm makes landfall, don't expect the government to be there to hold your hand or save you from you're own stupidity. You will be on your own for several days, possibly weeks. You are going to have to depend upon yourself, friends and neighbors to make it through the tough time.

If you fail to prepare now while you still have plenty of time you have no one to blame but yourself when chaos arrives at your doorstep.

So, what should you do to prepare?

I'll give you some suggestions in part 2.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861