Posted on 10/28/2005 1:17:42 AM PDT by JoeSixPack1
MIAMI (AP) - Florida disaster response officials thought their vast experience with hurricanes meant they could design an effective plan to distribute water, ice and other supplies only hours after Hurricane Wilma's winds subsided.
It didn't pan out as they intended.
"I think everyone acknowledges the fact that there wasn't enough inventory on the ground to keep distribution centers supplied," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said Thursday. "But you know, we have to learn from every experience, and I think we've learned a lot from this one."
As Wilma approached last week, Florida officials repeatedly insisted they were ready and assured they would avoid the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican who is President Bush's brother, said his state had a "unified command" that would contrast with the sluggish state and federal response in Louisiana.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.tbo.com ...
I pretty much figured on Jeb stepping up to the plate to take a hit for the first day confusion, but the Dade and Broward officials stepping up shows a bit of class I didn't think they had.
The staged for damage on the west coast and the most damage was on the East coast !
The next time I go camping, I'll make sure there's a government distribution center with water, ice and other supplies.
When your backdoors get blown in, your roof is in your neighbor's yard, your pickup has a new tree growing out of it, your entire region loses power, water, phones & cell phones, your neighborhood is under 3-5feet of water, trees down, roofing shingles clogging all the street drains, every tree you know is down or leaning east, your wearing shorts, t-shirt, barefoot, the outside temp just dropped 28 degrees in 11 hours, you can't find your shoes, or your dog...,,, you don't need to go camping. You are camping! :-)
Under my Grandmother's management in New Orleans, we WOULD "fill the bathtub with water and cover it with well-tapped plastic, fill every available container with tap water, buy 100 cans of tuna, triple wrap (in plastic) blankets and clothes to last one week (stored in the attic), fill the car with gas and have a 10 gallon gas container in the car's trunk, and hope for the best"
I blame the media for making people hysterical.
Every 5 minutes on the radio disaster channels the phrase:" Worse storm to hit Broward and Miami-Dade in 50 years" was said. Every 5 mins!
Then every other report said no power for my county till at least Nov 8, but no later then Nov 15. So I got my power, phone, cable, everything back thursday, Oct 27 at about 4pmish. (Yesterday afternoon) :-)
Every gas station had their tanks topped off as late as possible before the storm. Gas was everywhere. But power to pump it was the only problem.
Traffic lights were up and running by early Wednesday. Distribution centers were opened by each county with their county stocked supplies Tuesday. Hospitals, fire stations, Police all had continuous power via pre-mandated (county by county regs) self generating equipment.
The storm hit Monday, todays Thursday. I've got power, phone, cable, street lights, grocery stores with perishables instock and the people crowding our gas stations all came up from West Palm. Things are humming along nicely. :-)
You forgot the 2 oil lamps, campstove w/extra fuel, extra carton of smokes, a bible and waterproof document holder! :-)
Opps....my grandmother (who's 91 and still shaking her head about "young folks") would also have 20 candles (5 lighters) and three flashlights with replacement batteries. And of course, a bible and waterproof document holder!
I agree. But you know it is almost impossible to know exactly where the most damage will occur. The biggest problem with all of these storms is losing electricity. We are so dependent on it, we can't seem to funtion without it.
Most of the people in Florida who are raising cain seem to be the transplants from other areas of the country. That is info from my son and brothers and other family members who live in Florida.
Last years allotment of storms forced me to discover how to remove hot wax drippings from plush carpet.
This year I used oil lamps and a few no drip dinner candles. (Along with the batteries, flashlights, radio, etc., etc. :-)
PS: Your Grandmother sounds like mine. :-)
After 4 years in the sunshine State, I returned north, not my cup of tea. While I was there I followed the directives from the state, county and town and neighbors regarding hurricane preparation.
Every Floridian with half a brain knows that is incumbent upon them to be prepared for three days of no power during the hurricane season.
Some of the basics:
Full tank of gas (no electricity, no pumping)
$200 cash on hand (no electricity, no ATM)
1 gallon of water per person for 3 days
Stock the Fridge with ice.
Have food on hand that doesn't need cooking (although everyone has a grill)
It seems to me that our culture has evolved into one where there is a large segment of our population that simply can't take care of themselves and rely totally on the Nanny State for everything.
That last hurricane took a week to hit Florida. I have little sympathy for those who could have prepared but didn't.
I agree with you. Having grown up in the in South Carolina most of my life and having a father who also happened to also be a Maritine Claims Adjuster, you learn.
They hit the nail on the head! I agree with them. Newbies just can't conceive of a storm with hurricane intensity or even the thought of the aftermath.
Also, on electricity, the ultimate prize possession, the envy of the neighborhood, the item worthy of bragging rights (as of the last 3 years) is a whole house emergency generator. Automatic electric start, underground propane tank with 10 days reserve, water-cooled, sound controlled enclosure, automatic switch box circuit breaker, capable of running a washer, dryer, 3 ton AC unit, water heater, Frig, Microwave, TV, Coffee pot, stove and Playstation-2 all at the same time without breathin' heavy!! Gee, just talking about it gives me the sniffles. :-)
Many of the folks in Florida that got hit hard by storms last year now own generators.
But a generator won't do you much good once your gas runs out. We keep extra gas on hand, but even Rush mentioned yesterday that he didn't know if he'd get enough diesel to keep his generator going.
Another problem, once your house is flooded, a generator is of little use until the house dries out.
I do think the ice/water/food situation is purely to blame on folks lack of preparedness. We keep a week's supply of food/water/ice on hand at all times, not just hurricane season...because you just never know in these days.
Wow! Wouldn't that be nice, but living in an apartment, I can only dream.
I wonder if my cousin has one yet!!
(This is a link to a firsthand account!)
I can do without the ice, but I must admit I am woefully unprepared if a big storm hits in the Charleston area. I've got to get stocked up again.
I need to get another Hibachi and a supply of charcoal. I have some canned foods, but they need to be rotated out on a continual basis. I usually overstock on the water though, lol.
After Hugo, we had neighborhood cookouts and get togethers every night. Foods that were in the freezer were cooked on hibachis and grills and shared.
When one of the neighbors bought a generator and hooked it up, most of felt that he was ruining the neighborhood! The peace and quiet and a return to a time that brought out the best in people was gone.
It did make for better neighbors though, whereas we had not known our neighbors or neighborhood all that well, after Hugo we did.
It's not that people can't take care of themselves, by and large it's that they WON'T take care of themselves. They saw the people of Katrina getting Goodies and now they want their 'fair share'.
Even in Toronto those of us who saw the ice storm in Montreal in 1998 have a stockpile of goods and water to keep us going for three days at least.
The people that get me are the ones that went to Cancun knowing the hurricane was coming right and them, and then came home bawling about how Canada didn't 'take care of us' down there. For heaven's sake, people, don't go camping on a runway and they bawl because a plane took off over your head!
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