Hurricane Florence

[bcksknr]

     I'm in the midst of listening to the On Point program, on WPR radio. The topic is the looming hurricane and I thought I'd kick off he inevitable discussion. Besides some caller who live in or near the projected impacted ares, there were guests from FEMA, the Red Cross, Homeland Security, etc. Not too minimize the serious nature of what will happen, but the irony of some of the comments made is just too amazing. The upshot of the comments is that agencies are mainly focused on immediate life threatening "rescue" type of operations. They have not been very good at advance planning to mitigate the need for those types of operations. Nor have they been very good at learning significant lessons from the past, to make after disaster restructuring meaningful. This coming from agency officials.
     The admonition is that the old advice of individual supplies for 72 hrs. may no longer be enough. Also, that for the most part, the individual is now largely responsible for their own "preparedness". Yes, the "P" word came up many times. Apparently the government my not be "here to help". Maybe the magnitude of what is about to happen will shake some people out of their complacency.
     I'll go out on a limb, and say that with climate change ( from whatever source ) almost undeniable, it's becoming apparent that government agencies will not be able to mitigate major damage from increasingly severe hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other climate driven disasters. Those of us who have chosen to make ourselves and our families as secure as possible shouldn't feel "smug"in our preparations but instead, whenever possible, "get the word out" to friends and neighbors; we have to be reliant on ourselves and our neighbors. Even if we live in a "safe zone" (as we do in Wisconsin) these multi-billion dollar disasters effect everyone in many, not always obvious, ways.
     One other observation. I've been interested in how quickly store shelves emptied and gas lines formed. Also, there seem to be no reports of civil unrest. Apparently the rule of law is holding. One guest commented that in some areas, utilities and supply lines and emergency services could be interrupted for weeks. It will be interesting to see how long civility lasts under such conditions. If law and order can break down as in New Orleans and if government indifference and ineptitude can happen as in Puerto Rico, I wonder what we would be in for if it really was a SHTF, scenario?
     As always, thoughts and prayers go out to all. 

[DDJ]

Interesting post and observations thanks for posting it.

Can you share what program.  I am not an NPR listener so forgive the ignorance.  Is there some sort of recorder version, transcript or whatever that could be reviewed/shared.  Not that I do not trust your comments but sharing the source is better than "I hears some one say that this was said on NPR".

[Carl]

  With the scope of a major storm  one would have to admit he was dreaming and overly optimistic to think supply lines would recover within 3 days.A 3 WEEK supply would be slim for most areas with such a storm for food,water,meds etcas so many people think that they can just order a pizza....though the Amazon supply line may get to that level,one must still be ready to take care of himself and family for some time and the population density of the East coast does not allow much escape so better ,unless you  live in a flood likely area,to stock good supply and shelter in place as such stress can,and often does,bring out the worst in people.

[bcksknr]

     The program is called "On Point", heard daily, Mon.-Fri. from 9:00am to 11:00am (in two segments). Today's program at 9:00am was titled "As Florence Surges Forward, Rethinking What Hurricane Preparation Looks Like". The programs are produced by WBUR 90.9 Boston and NPR. Wisconsin Public Radio is where I listen to it. I believe it is archived there somewhere.