Well, if you’re not prepared for your local weather or everyday dangers no matter where you live, I guess all we can say to those along the coast is, “Sea ya!” ;)
I live in tornado and blizzard country. You can be darn sure we have a stash of supplies in case we’re stuck here with no power at -20 degrees, or the roof blows off the house.
This doesn’t surprise me. The weather people/media make a huge event out of every cluster of thunderstorms during hurricane season. People are burned out on the ‘sky is falling’reports and no longer take every warning of oncoming death and destruction seriously.
Used to be the hype was reserved only for the serious hurricanes, now they are tracking them from birth off Africa and after 2 weeks of hearing about Hurricane Hepsibah or something people tune it out. They also sensationalize every storm too much. We didn’t panic for every tropical storm or minor hurricane when I was growing up- now people consider ANYTHING the NWS names a potential catastrophe. People simply can’t AFFORD to run from every tropical system.
Look, I’ve been through Betsy- tons in between- and Katrina, I accept the eventual erasure of S. La by a hurricane. Nature will win, we are geologically and meteorologically doomed. New Orleans is a unique problem- no one should reside here permanently during hurricane season-period. It’s not like other coastal areas that hurricanes hit.
I won’t be here when a big one comes- and those who are don’t get any sympathy from me.
But it also makes me CRAZY to hear people compare the threat of hurricanes on our coastlines to ‘weather’ elsewhere in the country. There is no comparison UNLESS and UNTIL mass evacuations are called for tornadoes and blizzards. The psychological factor isn’t the same. Blizzards can be prepared for and survived with your home intact. You don’t see a million people fleeing in frantic panic before one. And tornadoes are too fast and isolated to have the same effect over a long period of time- as watching storm after storm during hurricane season.
Running- and preparing to run- from your home, over and over again, is no way to live. A tornado is horrific, but it can hit your neighbor and miss you. A hurricane like Katrina affects millions at once.
No comparison.
I’d gladly trade places with anyone in blizzard country- which is where I plan to be when N.O. is finally part of the Gulf of Mexico.