Overreaction?

 Am I getting too old or just unable to get accustomed to the American way?

Hopefully it's the latter😊.

I have spent 99% of my life in places that are on hurricane paths and each year we prepare the best we can and wait it out. 

I have observed for some years now though, that ever since we in Jamaica started getting regular hurricane updates from the USA, a whole lot of additional and unecessary stress is added to our lives every year, as these natural occurrences occur or threaten to.

For when you look at the dramatic manner in which US television weather people bring you updates on hurricanes, it as if every one of us is going to be totally eradicated when each one forms!

Seriously, for when we never had those dramatic up-dates with pictures showing the bands swallowing us all all, the stress level was just not as terrible.

Think of it, aren’t earthquakes also natural occurrences? Because they cannot be predicted, when they happen, we mourn, pick up the pieces where we can and move on.

No additional unnecessary stress. 

That is great, for as the experts will tell you, stress is the root of all evil.

While in Jamaica, my most costly hurricane loss never came from the winds nor from ignoring warnings that the weather people would have you believe would blow you to hell and back.

It was hurricane Gustav in 2008. Not a category 5 like Gilbert in 1988. 

Gustav was barely a category 1 hurricane and it never came with much drama, but lots of water. It wasn’t even the water coming directly from the from the system which caused my misery, but a set of circumstances that one could never have imagined or prepared for.

My backyard was on the Sandy Gully, a major waterway in Kingston. But it had what was previously thought to be, an invincible gully wall.

Well Gustav by itself wasn’t the problem. My misery came from the water in the gully which was transporting a small section of a brick house, which crashed into my ‘invincible’ wall. For, unfortunately my backyard was on a corner, so the force of the water loaded with bricks tore into my retaining wall and made a large hole. Long story short, my backyard flooded to within two or three inches of the back of the house! I lived for weeks being unable to go outside for when the water had receded, my backyard had a 30-foot drop.

I am by no means suggesting that one should not take practical precautions where able, but there are so many things one can’t prevent or prepare for, so stirring up panic is of no use. 

Anyway, as  American weather people are no doubt in search of ratings, over dramatization is not too much in their my book!

I remember when Mrs. Thatcher was prime minister of England, a storm created some damage in London, but the weather people had not seen it coming, so she ordered that they all be fired!😊

Is that what American weather people are over-reacting to? You tell me.

Then there are the politicians.

We all know Florida is very flat so prone to flooding, but really, urging all who live in the path of the hurricane to evacuate has got to be too damn extreme.

For example, for days before Ian even became a category 4 hurricane and while it was hundreds of miles away from Florida, the governor was on tv urging the 2.5 millions in its orbit to evacuate. Naturally, sections of west and north western Florida ended up having traffic jams for miles.

Luckily, it was only a small proportion of those in its path who had obeyed his call!

I could not help wondering, if everyone did, where would they find safe havens? In the past, I have even heard of people evacuating, going further north only to have the hurricane bypssing where they fled from and hitting the place they had run off to!

Yes, I understand that politicians and weather people don’t want to be accused of not doing enough to protect people, but is creating mass panic the way to go? Or is it better to give practical advice, educate the population, provide things like sand bags, and create shelters where necessary?

Giving practical information on necessities that one will need, like food, cleaning supplies etc. would certainly be a better option than having panic-stricken shoppers cleaning out supermarkets to buy things they will never need. This is now part of the annual madness and it has taken hold in Jamaica too.

Having experience is really valuable I guess, as I have never rushed out to buy stuff for hurricanes. So when category 5 Gilbert hit us in Jamaica and left us without electricity for up to three months, we still survived, Yes, it was difficult and very inconvenient at times, but in my book, that beats the annual  stress and unnecessary expense of buying tons of stuff you will never need!

Each year as I watch the dramatic rituals, I often get the impression that many of these modern-day  politicians and some US weather reporters, are the type of people who would love to be able to go into crowded theaters and shout fire. Smh.

UPDATE. Ian made landfall mainly in Ft. Myers and it’s environs and my heart goes out to those affected. But that area was never targeted by the weather people. Instead it was Orlando and Tampa residents who were being urged to evacuate!