Hurricane Katrina
As most of you know, Hurricane Katrina passed through South Florida Thursday evening as a category one hurricane.
We were extremely lucky. For those of us in Broward County, it was mainly a wind event with the main damage being power outages and downed trees or tree limbs. While our neighbours across the street still do not have electricity and are relying either on generators or candles, we only lost our electricity for nine hours. While trees or limbs fell on some people and killed them or damaged their homes or cars, we are all uninjured and had only a few downed tree limbs and the total damage was just a smashed wooden fence. While the electricity is still not on at my office and I may lose some business from it, I am blessed that my office is still standing unharmed and should have electricity restored by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Hurricanes are not fun. Even with the minor damage we received, most of the traffic signals are out and there are downed trees and tree limbs which making driving a bit like going through an obstacle course at best. Being without electricity while the temperatures soar into the 90's and don't cool off over night does not make for very happy people. However, this is nothing compared to what they are going through in Miami-Dade County or the Florida Keys, where many are still without electricity and entire neighbourhoods are flooded.
While I am happy that most people in South Florida have pulled together to help each other and drive carefully, I am chagrined by a couple of things. I cannot understand how when the county is trying to clear 2-3 inches of sand off of a main roadway so it does not look part of the beach (you couldn't even see that it was a road), some people decide it's a prime time to get in their car and sight-see, driving down said road and thus hindering the clean-up effort. I also do not understand how, when the deluge has flooded an entire neighbourhood, some people will drive or jet-ski through those neighbourhoods just to see the damage, and thus drive more water into people's homes from the wake of their car or jet-ski. Those people should be shipped off to New Orleans so they can learn just how deadly a hurricane can be, which brings me to my next point.
Hurricane Katrina was only a category one hurricane, with winds of 75-80 miles per hour when it went through South Florida. It is now a category five hurricane with winds of 165 miles per hour as it threatens to destroy New Orleans or some other city on the Gulf Coast. This ominous storm is going to slam into the Gulf Coast causing tremendous flooding that will make the floods in Miami-Dade County seem like nothing. There will be many deaths I fear and for those who survive, there will be difficult months of recovery ahead.
I extend my prayers and best wishes to those still in the path of Hurricane Katrina. Godspeed to all.
We were extremely lucky. For those of us in Broward County, it was mainly a wind event with the main damage being power outages and downed trees or tree limbs. While our neighbours across the street still do not have electricity and are relying either on generators or candles, we only lost our electricity for nine hours. While trees or limbs fell on some people and killed them or damaged their homes or cars, we are all uninjured and had only a few downed tree limbs and the total damage was just a smashed wooden fence. While the electricity is still not on at my office and I may lose some business from it, I am blessed that my office is still standing unharmed and should have electricity restored by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Hurricanes are not fun. Even with the minor damage we received, most of the traffic signals are out and there are downed trees and tree limbs which making driving a bit like going through an obstacle course at best. Being without electricity while the temperatures soar into the 90's and don't cool off over night does not make for very happy people. However, this is nothing compared to what they are going through in Miami-Dade County or the Florida Keys, where many are still without electricity and entire neighbourhoods are flooded.
While I am happy that most people in South Florida have pulled together to help each other and drive carefully, I am chagrined by a couple of things. I cannot understand how when the county is trying to clear 2-3 inches of sand off of a main roadway so it does not look part of the beach (you couldn't even see that it was a road), some people decide it's a prime time to get in their car and sight-see, driving down said road and thus hindering the clean-up effort. I also do not understand how, when the deluge has flooded an entire neighbourhood, some people will drive or jet-ski through those neighbourhoods just to see the damage, and thus drive more water into people's homes from the wake of their car or jet-ski. Those people should be shipped off to New Orleans so they can learn just how deadly a hurricane can be, which brings me to my next point.
Hurricane Katrina was only a category one hurricane, with winds of 75-80 miles per hour when it went through South Florida. It is now a category five hurricane with winds of 165 miles per hour as it threatens to destroy New Orleans or some other city on the Gulf Coast. This ominous storm is going to slam into the Gulf Coast causing tremendous flooding that will make the floods in Miami-Dade County seem like nothing. There will be many deaths I fear and for those who survive, there will be difficult months of recovery ahead.
I extend my prayers and best wishes to those still in the path of Hurricane Katrina. Godspeed to all.