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Sure, the storm was bad, but . . . (FR Mentioned)
St. Petersburg Times ^ | 11/05/05 | TAMARA LUSH

Posted on 11/04/2005 11:10:43 PM PST by conservative in nyc

Hurricane Wilma, with its 120-mph winds, punched South Florida in the gut.

A record 6-million people lost power. About 15,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in a three-county region, preliminary estimates show, with many of those homes inhabited by the elderly or poor. At least 27 people statewide died after the Oct. 24 storm, most from carbon monoxide poisoning or traffic crashes.

Yet compared to the concentrated fury of Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda last year, or to the widespread death and devastation of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in August, Wilma spared South Florida - and especially its suburban residents - from major destruction.

One wouldn't know it from listening to folks here.

"George W. Bush is forgetting about the little people, just like in New Orleans," said Cassie Williams, 51, of Fort Lauderdale. "We need food, we need water and we need checks."

Williams, whose home was not damaged, railed against the system on Oct. 26 - two days after the storm hit - while waiting three hours to eat a lukewarm chicken breast at a Salvation Army center. The complaints - especially coming from people who admitted they hadn't prepared, who had roofs over their heads, who had running water, who even had open supermarkets down the street - raised the ire of talk-show hosts, bloggers and pundits around the country.

"People need to be prepared and they are not because most of them are irresponsible and depending on the government for everything," read one typical post on Freerepublic.com. "When the gov. does not have bottles of water and ice on their footstep an hour after the hurricane they are complaining. Tough. Be responsible and stop the dependance (sic) on others."

(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...


TOPICS: Free Republic; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: fl; fr; hurricanewilma; wilma
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To: Fritzy; All

Amazing story..and welcome back!

A friend of mine went to the local flea market last week. One booth had several brand new, unused generators. My friend noticed it was the same brand his neighbor had been given by FEMA, mentioned it, and the booth owner smiled and said that's where ALL these generators came from also.

LAST year he knew a lot of people who'd gotten free generators from FEMA- so this year he told the same group to ask for more- and of course FEMA complied. Now he's given each of these people a little finder's fee and is off selling the generators at full list price at a flea market.


21 posted on 11/05/2005 4:14:41 AM PST by SE Mom (God Bless those who serve..)
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To: NautiNurse

Well, that is something in their favor!


22 posted on 11/05/2005 4:27:11 AM PST by Chanticleer (A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular. -- Adlai Stevenson)
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To: SE Mom


LAST year he knew a lot of people who'd gotten free generators from FEMA- so this year he told
the same group to ask for more- and of course FEMA complied. Now he's given each of these
people a little finder's fee and is off selling the generators at full list price at a flea market.

======

How interesting that TV on-the-spot reporters never report this kind of spending by FEMA.

This explains some of how FEMA can spend so many millions of dollars so quickly.


23 posted on 11/05/2005 4:42:30 AM PST by maica (We are fighting the War for the Free World --Frank Gaffney)
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To: rep-always; NautiNurse

Wow ... and they left out he most powerful part of the statement, that it was made by an Andrew survivor. That and the Houdini line :)


24 posted on 11/05/2005 6:51:30 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("To the terrorists, the media is a vital force multiplier" Brig. Gen. Donald Alston (USAF) 10/31/05)
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To: willyd

AMEN.

As a fellow nomad, I agree wholeheartedly.

It sort of reminds me of the rather insensitive, but extremely accurate joke Sam Kinison used to make about all the poor, starving Ethiopians. "Maybe you wouldn't be starving and dying if you'd just MOVE TO WHERE THE FREAKING FOOD IS!!!"

If you don't have enough income where you are, and you don't see a way of getting any more (legally), then go someplace where the ground is more fertile. It's common sense. (Something sorely lacking in our modern world.)


25 posted on 11/05/2005 8:18:09 AM PST by Choose Ye This Day ('Tis the part of the wise man to...not venture all his eggs in one basket. -- Cervantes)
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To: NautiNurse

Nice article. I concur with the sentiments. Honestly, Wilma type hurricanes are eminently handleable with minimal or no federal aid. It's not the Wilma's that give me more gray hairs.

Cool that they read FR. I think nearly all news people probably do, though. How else can they stay current?


26 posted on 11/05/2005 10:29:13 AM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality - Miami)
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To: NautiNurse

Thanks for the ping! Finally heard from my brother, the sheriff. They might have electricity by tonight. Much faster than when Hugo went through here. They have been working 18 hours shifts - both he and JoAnn. Mostly tree damage and some structural damage. But they are all right.


27 posted on 11/05/2005 10:38:12 AM PST by dixie sass
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To: conservative in nyc

I could not believe the belly aching from my neighbors after Wilma. We were without electricity for 9 days and on boil water, but honestly, it was an inconvenience, not life or death. We still did not go thru all of the bottled water we had stored, and I still have food in the pantry. And, the weather was blessedly cool.
Anyone who is too stupid or lazy or whatever to be prepared to go a week or so without being able to have electricity or fresh water from the tap gets no sympathy from me.
I missed my modern conveniences, but heck, now I know that I can survive just fine without them. I'm proud NOT to be a whiner!

susie


28 posted on 11/05/2005 10:59:37 AM PST by brytlea (I'm not a conspiracty theorist....really.)
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To: Choose Ye This Day

Good to hear a nomad that quotes kinison..."We have deserts in the US too...but nobody lives in them....you know why? Because they are made out of sand...you know what this will be a hundred years from now? That's right...sand...you know why? Because nothing grows in the f'n desert...you live in an f'n desert.


29 posted on 11/05/2005 11:50:06 AM PST by willyd (No nation has ever taxed its citizens into prosperity)
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To: willyd

That's right. It's been years since I heard Kinison. Still funny (and true) after all these years.


30 posted on 11/05/2005 12:24:34 PM PST by Choose Ye This Day ('Tis the part of the wise man to...not venture all his eggs in one basket. -- Cervantes)
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To: brytlea
What is sadly true, is that your preps and attitude would have been considered normal before so many have decided to be totally dependent on others.

I would like to ask the whiners if they can visualize any of the hardships that their forebears went through while settling this great country. I also am shocked to read in this article that people who live in a hurricane zone have blue tarps for roofs from hurricanes a whole year ago - because their "check" hasn't come to pay for the new roof. Really unbelievable!

31 posted on 11/05/2005 1:46:37 PM PST by maica (We are fighting the War for the Free World --Frank Gaffney)
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To: NautiNurse

Thanks to you, NN.


32 posted on 11/05/2005 4:39:47 PM PST by floriduh voter (www.tg2006.com Tom Gallagher (R) for Fla Governor (Fla's Only Pro-Life Candidate))
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To: conservative in nyc

I said something similar about preparedness and about it being a bad idea to depend on the govt but it wasn't one of mine.


33 posted on 11/05/2005 4:43:33 PM PST by floriduh voter (www.tg2006.com Tom Gallagher (R) for Fla Governor (Fla's Only Pro-Life Candidate))
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To: dixie sass; NautiNurse
The crying, lost, kitten who showed up outside in the pkg lot the day before Wilma, whom I named FEMA, will be posted on this thread. I should have her picture by tomorrow. I'm going to put her little face w/the FEMA logo.

St. Pete Times? Put my cat in the paper, her name is FEMA because I didn't want to name her WILMA.

34 posted on 11/05/2005 4:46:59 PM PST by floriduh voter (www.tg2006.com Tom Gallagher (R) for Fla Governor (Fla's Only Pro-Life Candidate))
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To: Sam Cree

This IS the ultimate grapevine. FR is where the media goes to find out what's really going on.


35 posted on 11/05/2005 4:48:45 PM PST by floriduh voter (www.tg2006.com Tom Gallagher (R) for Fla Governor (Fla's Only Pro-Life Candidate))
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To: NautiNurse; pickyourpoison
BREAKING NEWS: 9:00 pm est There's a standoff between a gunman and cops on Gulf to Bay Blvd. in Clearwater, Fl and motel/hotel guests are being evacuated. The cross street is McMullen Booth Road.

Just thought I'd mention it in case the St. Pete Times needs the info.

36 posted on 11/05/2005 6:04:05 PM PST by floriduh voter (www.tg2006.com Tom Gallagher (R) for Fla Governor (Fla's Only Pro-Life Candidate))
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To: floriduh voter

Can't wait to see the kitten.


37 posted on 11/05/2005 6:44:47 PM PST by dixie sass
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To: floriduh voter

I am pretty sure that Rush harvests some of his stuff from here. Same goes for the Schnitt show. Lots of the offbeat stuff that they talk about turns out to have been posted on FR the same day, or day before. Anyhow, I am happy enough that this resource is here for them. And us!


38 posted on 11/06/2005 6:28:56 AM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality - Miami)
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To: floriduh voter
"her name is FEMA because I didn't want to name her WILMA."

Named my son after a hurricane that approached Miami as he was born (26 years ago). Was supposed to strike here, but turned slightly right at the very last moment, hitting Palm Beach instead. Wife was still in Baptist Hospital with him as all that went on.

39 posted on 11/06/2005 6:32:40 AM PST by Sam Cree (absolute reality - Miami)
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To: conservative in nyc

To be fair and not be be seen as mean and nasty the paper could have corrected the spelling and not used the damning "[sic]". Yet they were ... nasty lil' buggers ... for sticking the shiv of "sic" into a Freeper's side.


40 posted on 11/06/2005 6:38:39 AM PST by bvw
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