Posted on 06/01/2006 2:08:36 AM PDT by Caipirabob
Fear is a good thing -- when it comes to hurricanes.
"People need to be more afraid than they have been in the past," said Jay Baker, a behavioral geography professor at Florida State University, noting that more frequent, intense storms could become an annual event over the next two decades.
Yet with hurricane season starting today, emergency managers worry that residents will instead become overconfident after weathering Hurricane Wilma last October or resigned after dealing with two years of tropical turmoil.
"A few years ago, we were talking about hurricane amnesia. Now we're talking about hurricane fatigue," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Let's see what happens with insurance this coming year. You thought you heard people scream about the storms? You haven't heard anything yet...
Oh, I know. People are going to post "that's what you pay to live there...". Doesn't cut it for the multitude of retirees on fixed incomes or the family on the edge to see a 200-300% increase in insurance rates tacked onto a mortgage. That's where the real storm will be this year. Ah'm jes' sayin'...
I was in HD last night and the generators and gas cans were flying out the door. I've had a "survivor's mentality" for years and am pretty well set. I did move last year and the new house doesn't have the storm shutters (yet), but it's pretty well built otherwise, considering the new building codes...
After looking through the Sun-Sentinel's Wilma photo collection, it brought back the headaches of those mile-long gas lines -- or wasting gas trying to find an open gas station -- caused not by a shortage of gas, but the fact that without power, many stations didn't have generators to pump the gas. We've heard a lot about FPL's malfeasance in not maintaining lines and poles, and how they're trying to make up for neglect, but I wonder how many gas stations have added generators.
If the power goes down for any length of time, and those gas lines happen again, it won't be pretty.
Do those crank radios work - the flashlights, too? I tried a $20 one I saw and it worked for just a second or two, then stopped.
I realize you're supposed to crank them for one minute to equal one hour of power, but I cranked it for a few seconds and it only lasted as long as I cranked it.
Is there some trick to it? I do want to put one of each, or a combo one, in my hurricane kit, but want to hear from someone who has used them successfully. Are there higher-priced ones that work better? I saw one a few years ago at Restoration Hardware that seemed to be better made, but I didn't buy it at the time. Thanks.
Watch out buying battery operated TVs. When HDTV kicks in, they're going to be useless.
Bumping to see if anyone can answer my question in post #5 about the wind-up flashlights and weather radios. Thanks.
Good point. It's that combo TV/radio/flashlight so I'll get some use out of it.
You have to wonder if the gubmit will reserve some band or other for emergency broadcasts. Not reserving some bandwidth for conventional broadcast signals seems unfeasible.
Thanks for the info. That one at Walgreen's is the one I had been looking at, but wasn't too sure about. I will proceed.
For years and years, I was always well prepared for hurricanes or power outages, but I had a "reversal of fortune" in recent years and now have no control over my environment and I panic easily.
All my normal "hurricane kit" tools are in a storage unit that I can't get to, so I'm trying not to duplicate anything, but still have the bare necessities on hand without spending very much.
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