Storms' A Comin'...again
So now there's this stagnant super-slow ass hurricane off the coast of my humble abode. Last year I had to board up my home, parents home, business, and friends houses, a total of FOUR times. So I guess if I can get away with just doin' it once this year, its not that bad. The billion dollar tax payer beach effort to rejuvenate the beaches over the past year was totally demolished in just the last two days due to this Ophelia scenario. No one seems to know where its going, either.
First, all those weather peeps are like, "its just a Tropical Depression, and not a 'storm' yet,". What the heck does that mean? The weather is depressed, or should I be depressed - because if you saw all the flooding on my street with the 40 mph winds blowing the rain sideways and waking you up every hour for the past three days, you would say, "hmm, looks like a 'storm' to me..." Now its a freakin' hurricane, and to make matters worse, on the front page of our local newspaper it said that if we got a direct hit from a category 3 or more, there would be 20+ feet of storm surge. I don't even have flood insurance on my house, and you know why? Just the flood insurance alone costs more per year than to insure my entire house! I can't afford that (no one else in my neighborhood can either from what I gather). I won't even go into the insurance cost of the business. All I can think of is this - "What if what happened in New Orleans happened here?" Not likely I suppose, but what if? No one can even predict where this thing is going, but if headin' here, I am SOOOOOOOO out of here.
I had to evacuate my home in South Florida on my 16th birthday for Hurricane Andrew, and let me tell you, that was NOT a pretty site. My friends' piano keys were stuck in the sides of cars, which in turn were stuck in sides of trees. Boats were stuck in billboards a mile off the coast, and everything was a horrific mess. YET - the VERY next day there were helicopters, National Guard, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and LOADS of police, etc. there dropping off water, setting up evacuation and temporary hospital sites - even temporary school sites! - even though places were STILL FLOODED! Yes, lots of South Florida was still under water and VERY dangerous - I mean - this is Miami we're talking about! Well, aparently everything was somehow organized then, and that was over a DECADE AGO! Where was all that stuff this time? What the F*CK happened? I would think the whole hurricane plan would have gotten better in the past 10 years, not worse!!! I mean, seriously, Andrew was TERRIFYING, but help was there ASAP, despite the flooding, looting, nutty homeless, etc. It took a long time to recover, and some people still are, believe me, but this - this is - well, insert your own phrase for what you think this is.
Besides that, I have received some really terrific messages about the Katrina Links site and Community I posted. I've had some excellent feedback on sites to post, and ones to be wary of, and I really appreciate that. I wish I could do more, but I'm broke, and just good at organizing sh*t I suppose.
My parents are planning on going to some relief sites in an RV to deliver some material goods. One of my employees' parents' have opened their 8 acre farm in the panhandle of FL to the Red Cross and to evacuees and they say its total madness, but helpful none the less. My best friend works for Florida Fish and Wildlife and says they've already deployed those in armed enforcement to travel the bayous for survivors, and they've taken all of their regular equipment, such as helicopters, airboats, SUVs, and all that. She is expected to go to some of the lesser affected areas in October. I told her that she wasn't chosen to go on this first route because they don't trust her with a firearm, because I sure wouldn't. Her response was that she was unable to go because she told them she couldn't shoot another human being.
First, all those weather peeps are like, "its just a Tropical Depression, and not a 'storm' yet,". What the heck does that mean? The weather is depressed, or should I be depressed - because if you saw all the flooding on my street with the 40 mph winds blowing the rain sideways and waking you up every hour for the past three days, you would say, "hmm, looks like a 'storm' to me..." Now its a freakin' hurricane, and to make matters worse, on the front page of our local newspaper it said that if we got a direct hit from a category 3 or more, there would be 20+ feet of storm surge. I don't even have flood insurance on my house, and you know why? Just the flood insurance alone costs more per year than to insure my entire house! I can't afford that (no one else in my neighborhood can either from what I gather). I won't even go into the insurance cost of the business. All I can think of is this - "What if what happened in New Orleans happened here?" Not likely I suppose, but what if? No one can even predict where this thing is going, but if headin' here, I am SOOOOOOOO out of here.
I had to evacuate my home in South Florida on my 16th birthday for Hurricane Andrew, and let me tell you, that was NOT a pretty site. My friends' piano keys were stuck in the sides of cars, which in turn were stuck in sides of trees. Boats were stuck in billboards a mile off the coast, and everything was a horrific mess. YET - the VERY next day there were helicopters, National Guard, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and LOADS of police, etc. there dropping off water, setting up evacuation and temporary hospital sites - even temporary school sites! - even though places were STILL FLOODED! Yes, lots of South Florida was still under water and VERY dangerous - I mean - this is Miami we're talking about! Well, aparently everything was somehow organized then, and that was over a DECADE AGO! Where was all that stuff this time? What the F*CK happened? I would think the whole hurricane plan would have gotten better in the past 10 years, not worse!!! I mean, seriously, Andrew was TERRIFYING, but help was there ASAP, despite the flooding, looting, nutty homeless, etc. It took a long time to recover, and some people still are, believe me, but this - this is - well, insert your own phrase for what you think this is.
Besides that, I have received some really terrific messages about the Katrina Links site and Community I posted. I've had some excellent feedback on sites to post, and ones to be wary of, and I really appreciate that. I wish I could do more, but I'm broke, and just good at organizing sh*t I suppose.
My parents are planning on going to some relief sites in an RV to deliver some material goods. One of my employees' parents' have opened their 8 acre farm in the panhandle of FL to the Red Cross and to evacuees and they say its total madness, but helpful none the less. My best friend works for Florida Fish and Wildlife and says they've already deployed those in armed enforcement to travel the bayous for survivors, and they've taken all of their regular equipment, such as helicopters, airboats, SUVs, and all that. She is expected to go to some of the lesser affected areas in October. I told her that she wasn't chosen to go on this first route because they don't trust her with a firearm, because I sure wouldn't. Her response was that she was unable to go because she told them she couldn't shoot another human being.