June 1st. To most of the rest of the world, it’s just a date on a calendar…and they’re right. To those of us along the Gulf Coast, and to a lesser, though certainly not insignificant degree, the Atlantic seaboard, June 1st marks the beginning of Hurricane Season. From the beginning of June until the end of October, we live in varying degrees of fear of what may or may not be churning out in the open waters of the Atlantic, the Caribbean, or the Gulf of Mexico. We pay closer attention to weather forecasts and what’s happening hundreds of miles away over open water. No, this fear is not a 24/7 thing, but it’s never far from the public consciousness here in Paradise. In my case, when you live a half-mile from the Gulf of Mexico, you see a daily reminder of the thin line between beauty and devastation.
Anyone who was paying atttention during last year’s hurricane season will vividly remember what can happen when Nature goes haywire. I remember just how close we came to losing our home. If Hurricane Rita had made landfall 60 miles or so farther west, Seabrook, and indeed the entire Houston-Galveston region would have been devastated. What happened in Beaumont, Orange, and Lake Charles could easily have happened here.
Why am I obsessing about June 1st in the middle of April? Well, because hurricane season is seven weeks away, and to say that state, local, and federal governments are prepared for what the season may bring would be to ignore the reality of the situation. Whatever lessons we thought we may have learned last summer appear to be on their way to being forgotten. Sad to say, but we may well have to learn things the hard way all over again.
Of course, in the defense of those charged with preparing for hurricanes, these folks have a hell of a job, and I’m not sure that there is much they can do to protect everyone from everything. Perhaps the biggest lesson we should have taken from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina was that government is neither equipped to nor capable of protecting us. FEMA is a wholly inept and incompetent government agency, though, while it may be staffed by well-meaning people, should not be counted on for anything. Seven months after Katrina, and how many thousands of FEMA’s trailer are still marooned in a muddy field outside Hope, AR?
No, the reality here is that we are ultimately responsible for ourselves and our families. A hurricane that size and strenght of Katrina or Rita is simply beyond the response capabilities of the federal (never mind the state) government. I’m not saying this to advocate an every man for himself mentality, but who can we expect to look out for us? Frankly, no one.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most everyone who lives along the Gulf Coast if hoping and praying for a quiet hurricane season. Hoping may be one thing, but I fear that the reality may be somewhat different…and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.
Seven weeks left….
