Was Irene Overrated?

J. Philip Faranda posted Was Irene Over-hyped by the NY Politicians and Media? The sentiment is that what happened was not a big thing. Or, better say, much less than anticipated, and it can make people complacent, and should another one come, they may not take it seriously.

I can understand the sentiment. I understand that many people think that hurricane is not really dangerous, and become compacent. It is the same feeling that I had after all those hurricanes before 2004. I know that in Florida it was a serious problem in the Florida Keys, as people quickly get tired and tend to stay when ordered to evacuate.

And that's where there is a danger. Because we can only really rate it when we are in it, and this is when you can't do anything. Because just one notch in force means from being safe and sleep sound in your bed to having the roof lift off and no place to hide.

The Hurricane is a huge system, hundreds of miles wide. It did not hit just Westchester County, it hit several States, and some were hit harder and some less. Like Real Estate, Hurricanes are local, and some areas are prone to flooding and some are higher. If you are OK and dry, it does not mean that the Hurricane was overrated; it only means that luckily you are safe and dry.

Millions are not.

I have lived through quite a number of hurricanes here in Florida, one  - Charley – was a direct hit, Category 1, the rest were not direct... I have seen destruction, overturned 18-wheelers, roofs blown away, uprooted trees...

Can you be overly cautious dealing with a Hurricane?  If you went to sleep and woke up and it was all over - great, consider you are lucky...

Because for so many people it is not the end, it is just the beginning of a nightmare. For people, who will be for weeks without power, whose homes are flooded... 

The car that was under water, is useless junk, but what about homes? The affects of the hurricanes will be felt for a long time to come.

Should we become brazen? Should we become complacent?

I was in a condo through all Hurricanes through the years. Never evacuated. The utilities are underground, so we did not lose power, we actually were watching TV and that's how we knew what was happening around. We were the lucky ones. Yes, we could go to sleep and wake up in our beds.

Does it mean that Hurricanes are a joke?

Be very careful with that. Charley was supposed to hit Tampa, and it was quiet in Daytona. Hotels in Daytona were full with people who came from Tampa to avoid the hit.

Well, it changed the path and smashed into Punta Gorda on the west coast of Florida as Category 4 and turned north east. Past Orlando and finally reached Daytona Beach as Category 1. And in Tampa the TV crews that came to report on the hurricane were showing beautiful sunset.

Morning after the hurricane some hotels lost power, and I remember when a woman in a wheelchair needed medical help, and she was stuck on the 7th floor, and her son and others were trying to get her down the stairs but with a wheelchair they needed one guy on each side, and the stair was too narrow...

When there are causalities, it is serious.

You can't be over cautious with Hurricanes. New York did not have something like this. Hopefully, it will not become a part of living in New York, and New England.

You did very well this time.

Keep it this way