Now that we know the Carolinas are going to be hit quite hard by Hurricane Florence, I feel compelled to speak to all those in the path of the storm who will no doubt make some downright stupid decisions as conditions worsen. These warnings are based on something humans tend to abandon in times of crisis – logic.
During your panicked grocery store run, DO NOT LOAD UP ON BREAD AND MILK. I will never understand why people who think they are going to be without electricity for days or weeks load up on two of the most perishable items you can purchase. Please remember that it is still summer. If your power goes out, the milk is going bad within 2 days and the bread is going to be a penicillin factory shortly thereafter. You want a 148-pack of bottled water? Fine. But if it is something resembling the apocalypse and you’re in the dark until it’s almost October, you’re going to look and feel really stupid throwing out the rancid jugs of milk and the mold-infested loaves of bread. Don’t give me some mindless drivel about “that’s the way it’s done here” or “I do exactly what my Mama did during storms” or other useless claptrap. STOP DOING IT!
If you’re told to leave, LEAVE!Every time a hurricane lands on the US, I have to endure hours of news clips of people that refused to evacuate when ordered and are sitting on a roof or a cardboard box waiting for a rescue boat to come by before they die in the next hour. Some of my fellow Libertarians are among these people, and they reason that once the storm has passed, the government makes a power grab and tells them, “yeah, we know the storm is gone, but we’re not going to let you back on your land for 1-100 days, just because we’re the government and you will bow to us and wait until we say so before you can reclaim what is yours.” Yes, I understand you have to pass an IQ test to work for government, and that if you score above 50, you are ineligible to work for government, and you don’t trust them. But again, use logic. If your home is 16 feet high and there is going to be 25 feet of water where you live, you have to go. When the government refuses to let you go back to your home long after there is any reason for them to do so, just grit your teeth and wait it out. You can always sue them after the waters recede.
I used to work for the local utility. While I certainly think there are things they don’t do well, the one thing I know from working there is that they do everything they possibly can to get power restored as quickly as possible. If I get on social media and see people trashing the utility for not coming to your house first, I’m going to defend them. Stupid accusations about power restoration being based on people’s incomes, payment history, or political connections, rage about not getting an estimated time of restoration for your outage which is one out of 300,000 and other such nonsense is going to get some rude responses from me. Please remember that the people restoring the power are human beings just like you. They do the best they can with what they have.
And one more thing on this matter: If you are one of these looney birds that took a shotgun out on the porch and threatened to shoot the tree trimmers who came to chop down your precious tree last year, you have ZERO right to complain about being without electricity when the big limb from that precious tree broke during the storm and destroyed the electricity infrastructure to your entire neighborhood. So don’t start it.
Use lots of logic during this time. Prepare with logic. Take a moment to breathe. And above all else, remember that your things are just that – things. Things can be replaced. People cannot.
I hope everyone comes through safely.
Good thoughts well put. (Todd)