I don't know what it is about hurricanes that get me so fired up, but it has happened again. This time it is the reaction to Hurricane Wilma. This article was linked to Drudge today. I don't know if I am just an ass or I should really feel sorry for these people.
Here is the
LINK.
Here is my analysis of the story...
"
Many Floridians were still struggling to find food, water, ice and gas on the third day of recovery from Wilma, waiting in line for hours _ sometimes in vain."
Should I feel sorry for these people. Sure it sucks that a hurricane just hit these people, but YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING. Why should you have to rely on other people to help you out all of a sudden?? Did you not see what happened in Mexico? Did you think you were going to have electricity and running water back the next day?
I think they should have had interviewed and profiled those who actually were prepared. Wait, they were too busy being prepared in their house, not waiting for and complaining about the government's reaction to this.
Governor Bush, though, is a man who gets it. Though he takes the blame, he does reply with this...
"People had ample time to prepare. It isn't that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water," said Bush, repeating the advice that officials had given days before Wilma hit."
If they would have done this, they shouldn't have to be in these lines and at these distribution points. How about a little common sense here?
"Among the first in line Wednesday at Miami's Orange Bowl distribution site was Josephina Diaz, who said she arrived at 6 a.m. 'I don't have a choice,' she said. 'I have medicine and food I can't allow to spoil.'
Actually, you had a couple of choices. One, get the hell out of dodge. Two, prepare for a possibly deadly storm.
"'This is like the Third World,' said Claudia Shaw, who spent several hours in a gas line. 'We live in a state where we suffer from these storms every year. Where is the planning?'"
I couldn't say it any better. Why didn't YOU plan ahead? You expect the government to, but you can't? Go buy some water. Have an extra gas tank on hand in case you need gas. Go buy some dry ice to keep things cold. Or GET OUT OF TOWN!
What is it going to take to get people to evacuate when the suggestion is made to evacuate? Katrina obviously wasn't enough. Maybe more people need to die before people will actually decide that they should get out of the way of a deadly storm.
This would be like people in the midwest saying, "Oh, there is a tornado coming, but it is only a category 3 tornado so we aren't going to take cover. Let's go watch it from the yard!"
I just wonder where the common sense of some people is at times!
It was nice to see this tribute to American capitalism at the end of the article, though.
"At one gas station, a man went car-to-car selling fuel from a 10- gallon plastic tank. The price was $20 for about a gallon, and people happily paid."
If this man were to have owned a gas station and did this, he would have been hung by the media I am sure. But instead, we will look at him as a smart man. What is the difference? Both are trying to make a buck of the misfortunes of others.
