[wisconsin_cur]

Hurricanes: Most people will "get religion" on preparedness at the last minute and expect us to help them... that won't work

The story is about hurricanes in Florida but the human psychology is the same even if we talk about Peak Oil. Even if they know there is a problem, most people will wait until it is too late to begin to prepare. And the problem will only get worse as the economic impacts of peaking oil hit people in the pocket books.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')IAMI — The hurricanes are coming. Carlos Alvarez, mayor of Miami-Dade County, cannot say when or how severe they will be, but every public speech he gives now includes a warning.

Carlos Alvarez, left, mayor of Miami-Dade County, says people need to prepare for a big storm. But Cheth Thach, who once did so routinely, says many can no longer afford the expense. Given the economy, he said, “it’s kind of tough to buy everything.”

“Hurricanes are part of our lives,” he tells people, adding: “Every time you get groceries, add a few extra cans. Have some jugs to fill up with water.”

For many, though, the message has yet to register.

Florida’s faltering economy and a recent scarcity of major storms have led to what emergency management officials now describe as a dangerous level of complacency. More than two months into hurricane season, and even as Tropical Storm Fay formed on Friday over the Dominican Republic and headed west, Floridians on both coasts are less prepared to withstand a major storm than at any other time in years, according to officials, business owners and residents.

Further, a Harvard study last month identified a significant post-Katrina distrust of shelters, with about a quarter of people surveyed in coastal areas in eight states planning to stay home if a hurricane hits.

“Officials tell us that they are really quite worried about people who would not cooperate, who are not aware of what was about to happen,” said Robert Blendon, director of the Harvard report. “And just thinking of the mobile homes, if people stay and they really are blown all over, public officials, ambulance services, Red Cross units have to go find these people and provide them with support and services.”

The public cost could be significant. Miami-Dade County has spent $250 million in local, state and federal money cleaning up from the hurricanes of 2005, Katrina and Wilma, and officials say that when people are unprepared, the expense rises substantially.

That is partly what worries Larry Gispert, director of the emergency management office for Hillsborough County, on the Gulf Coast. Mr. Gispert says the questions he has received at preparedness seminars this year — like “When is the next hurricane coming to Tampa?” — show that residents are woefully uninformed.

“My concern is that they will get the religion at the very last moment,” he said. “Then they want everybody to help them at the very last moment, and that’s what we cannot do.”

[TheDude]

Morning Cur,

At least people are cognizant of hurricanes, or other types of natural disaster. Now, if only we had gas shortages or price spikes every 5 years...the European experience doesn't suggest that decades of heavy fuel taxes will do sufficient nudging, though, although in general they're much more prepared than us in the US.

People want to take it easy. They don't want to agonize over storms or fuel shortages, they want their Tivo and Cherry Coke. It's like we're still on vacation after WWII, too. Wasn't this country based on hard work and frugality or something...? The Roman populace's fondness for panem et circenses tells us that this love of carefree sloth isn't specific to a nationality or era, though.

[wisconsin_cur]

As I talk to family and friends there is a basic understanding of the problem... they do not understand the scale or the threat but they have a basic understanding of the problem.

At the core of their complacency seems to be the idea that somebody will do something, just like those who are in the path of hurricanes. They will make whatever changes need to be made, but at the last moment. I would guess that they will expect someone (government) to help them (this is the unspoken part of the expectation that someone will do something).

My mother is slowly waking up to the possible scale. My father is not. I have one grandfather who is awake to all of the possibilities and another is too distracted by the immigration debate to care.

My co-workers are all somewhere in-between. some are doing the right things for the wrong reasons (buying homes close to work, adding bicycles to their commuting options).

So, I don't know... I've linked it before but I guess the Dude is effecting the way I view the world.

Let all of those people do what people do, The Cur Abides

[Don35]

A lot of folks I share PO with believe technology will save us. Plus I see a number of folks that feel they can't do anything about it so they don't! wisconsin_cur your hurricane thread is another example of how unprepared we are and will continue to be. It's one of the reasons I'm such a doomer!

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', 'A')t the core of their complacency seems to be the idea that somebody will do something,

[vision-master]

Hurricanes?

Ain't that like living in a floodplain?

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'H')urricanes? Ain't that like living in a floodplain?

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'H')urricanes? Ain't that like living in a floodplain?

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', 'A')t the core of their complacency seems to be the idea that somebody will do something,

[JJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'H')urricanes? Ain't that like living in a floodplain?

[JJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', 'A')t the core of their complacency seems to be the idea that somebody will do something,

[wisconsin_cur]

The ancient equivilant of waiting to the last moment to prepare was to go to the cathedral/mosque as the invaders rampaged through the city. On a few occasions it worked, the commander in place decided to spare them... usually it just meant you all got to die in the same place and made clean up easier.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JJ', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'H')urricanes? Ain't that like living in a floodplain?

[wisconsin_cur]

youtube link -> the blackfly song

[highlander]

Prepare for what, exactly.
a few years ago, as I became aware of peak oil, I considered it mainly a transportation fuels issue. In my neck of the woods, with abundant hydro power. I still consider that the main issue.
Two [s]years[/s] months ago, we did not face an escalating cold war. Does one prepare for nuclear war the same way as for peak oil?
I believe TPTB will delay effects of peak oil as long as possible. This will make preps harder, as the seriousness of the final outcome will intensify.
Most preps, getting out of debt, simpler lifestyle, network of like minded individuals, are good whatever the event you are prepping for. Peak oil is not a hurricane. The day it impacts you cannot be forecasted. Like a hurricane, your two options are hunker down or run. Preps usually imply hunkering down, but you should always have plan B and probably plan C, especially if you live in a city.

[wisconsin_cur]

A Hurricane and a three day blizzard are very different things. Preparation for them is pretty much the same... some details differ but there is a lot of overlap.

Prepare for the overlap first, then for the specifics of various possibilities.

People are doing neither. Even if they prepared for the overlap today and then rushed with the specifics as the future bears itself out, that would be an improvement.

Before you can have plan b or c you need to prepare plan a.

[kpeavey]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'T')his is the most common response I get when I bring up the issue of peak oil. "Someone will do something." It just never seems to occur to them that the "someone" might need to be themselves.

[RedStateGreen]

I think eventually they will start fining those that FEMA has rescue after a storm. That's the only way people are going to change, is if there's some sort of consequence to their lack of preparation.

[highlander]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RedStateGreen', 'I') think eventually they will start fining those that FEMA has rescue after a storm. That's the only way people are going to change, is if there's some sort of consequence to their lack of preparation.

[Revi]

"They" aren't going to do anything to help anyone. I think we saw how well "they" function with Katrina. The chances that any of the agencies that are supposed to deal with things will get it together are slim. I think that local authorities and state governments may be a lot better.

The Feds aren't going to be able to do anything. That's not their job, really.

Wait until TV goes digital and half the country doesn't even know what's going on. Then it will get interesting.

That happens in February.