Hurricane preparedness...or lack of it
The fact that many coastal residents are not prepared for a hurricane is no surprise.
Nobody is going to prepare for anything as long as the threat remains an abstraction. It's human nature. They will begin to prepare, however, when the news that a storm is approaching percolates its way through the ordinary stress and distractions of their daily lives.
This usually happens about forty-eight hours before the storm hits. All of a sudden, there are lines at Home Depot for (now scarce) plywood, and at the supermarkets for water, batteries and other staples that should have been bought months in advance. Incredibly, home improvement stores report that much of the plywood is returned after a storm fails to materialize, as if by surviving a near-miss, we have been inoculated against future catastrophes.
That kind of attitude can only be ascribed to blind superstition. This is what a lot of people must be taking solace in when they fail to perform simple preparatory tasks despite incessant government and media reminders.
It's too late now, but realize that I left ground bat wing and eye of newt out of the cartoon. Shoulda been better prepared.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
"That kind of attitude can only be ascribed to blind superstition." Or, to a culture that has moved away from indepedence and to government dependence. We willing give up our responsibilities in exchange for our rights. We are now just a bunch of sheep, unable to think for ourselves, contentedly being led to the slaughter.
Posted by: Quark | June 8, 2009 1:21 PM
Have no idea how I get dragged in to reading through all these comments, but it's certainly great to find out that folks can make them to start with. So I appreciate the read and keep on writing, I may get inspired to attempt the same eventually.
Posted by: Sam Tyler | May 17, 2011 7:08 AM