Hurricanes are scary. Killer flus are scary. Let's imagine both at the same time and see what we come up with:
A scary scenario emerged Thursday at a health summit here: The state likely will be battling a killer flu during a hurricane.
That means mixing infected and healthy people by the tens of thousands at hurricane shelters statewide. And thousands more may put themselves in harm's way rather than risk infection with a deadly virus.
For any town that wants to play damsel in distress, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt adds "Any community that fails to prepare with the premise that the federal government will rescue them will be tragically wrong."
Here in Ft. Lauderdale that just means that the day after the storm, people will be lining up for water and kleenex.
Posted by floridacracker at February 17, 2006 01:55 PMyikes..a Flurricane...
Kleenex huh...one more thing to remember
we were SO lucky...three seperate eyes passed over our house. They had lost some intensity, though...course I was BORN in a hurricane...so it's sorta like a watchin a bug zapper over a case o beer for me. I don't actually drink beer anymore..I just talk about it.
We bought a new house though..this year, I have taken four trees out, and have four to go. My
neighbors weren't too thrilled, maybe they havent
seen enough yet.
Posted by: Owen Crosby at February 17, 2006 03:04 PM
Yeah, it was the frickin' trees that nailed us. We were lucky that when they came down, they smashed into our roof and not our cars.
This whole area is heavily, heavily landscaped. It took out almost every tree in this place.
Hello Donnah:
When Wilma had people crying for food less than 24 hours after it passed, I cannot figure what the citizens of Dade, Broward, Palm beach Counties will expect of the government if this scenario occurs. There was a day when S.E. Florida would have a Hurricane, and then begin to clean up. Now the term "Clean up", means stealing from the taxpayers of America. Free Chainsaws? Free MRE"s the next day? Free Ice and Water? Tell me, when those people ask the governnment to wipe their butts, do they drop their own drawers, or is there an unfastening crew to do it for them.
And after they have their butt wiped, they bitch about the way it was done.
In my blogging after Katrina, I was accused of not knowing what it is like to be in a "Terrible Hurricane". FYI I have been in some, maybe not as bad as that Killer storm Wilma. Like:
Betsy, Donna, Lily, (missed Andrew), Georges, all 4 of 2004, and a dozen or so minor Hurricanes. Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Ophelia were near enough to me that I felt some force or other from them. I know Hurricanes, and I know that the only thing that the Government should have to do is to tell us that one is coming and that we should EVACUATE! If we feel we need a Chainsaw for recovery, we should be buying it now.
Let me say this: "Everyone who claims to have needed Food, Water, Chainsaw, Generator or other assistance within such a few hours after Wilma is a free-loader, and a user of the taxpayers of this country." I said "everyone", not some, not a few, Everyone! If a Hurricane leaves you this devastated, you don't belong in S. E. Florida. We do Hurricanes here.
nuf sed
When I was a kid growing up in Miami we had a "hurricane drawer" where we kept all our candles and batteries, had canned food stashed, and my dad's Coleman lantern and stove. It was just part of life, it was expected that you'd get at least one bad storm if not a hurricane every year. Then the seventies came and the storms petered off and all those inexperienced people from iceboxes up north moved down here to what they thought was a totally planned Disney World.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 20, 2006 09:22 PM