This is just one of many reasons why this region was completely unprepared for the storm. If a blizzard came and dumped two feet of snow on Miami next week, I'm sure most people down there would be running around like they were suddenly dropped on Mars.
A few years ago, I spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Myrtle Beach SC playing golf.
The weather down there that time of year can still be pretty nice but it was unusually damp and chilly that week and one night it started sleeting a bit. My husband and I being from up “north” (Maryland) didn’t think it was any big deal and went out to dinner but when we got back to the hotel, the gals behind the desk were freaking out. They were very concerned about the roads and getting home. We told them not to worry, that yes it was sleeting but the roads were mostly wet. The one gal then said, “Y’all don’t understand. We don’t know how to drive in ice and we don’t have any plows or salt trucks here”.
One of things we noticed were the number of Canadians on vacation down there and then we meet and played golf with some guys from Chicago. The temperatures when we teed off were just above freezing but eventually got up to the upper 50’s and the guys from Chicago loved it, they were wearing shorts, short sleeve shirts and no jackets.
“..first hurricane to make landfall ... since 1903, etc.”
Great point, but the trime frame was pure roll of the dice.
It continues to astonish me that our general population is so utterly ignorant of basic Earth Science - how storms are formed, how and why they would impact the coast, etc. If you choose to live at or below sea level on the ocean you will get a storm that washes away the coastline - it may happen later rather than sooner, but it will happen - and it has nothing to do with “Climate Change”. It is Climate, Period.
We need to ramp up our earth science cirriculums, pronto!!
I remember being in Atlanta on business in the mid-80s, when they got 5-6” of snow, and it was chaos. The streets were like Bump-Em-Cars at the county fair: smash-ups everywhere! I got a room for the night instead of flying out of Hartsfield Int’l Airport (it was shut down), until the snow melted and they cleared the wreckage throughout the city. Gaaaawd, what a mess. LOL.