By David Colmans
The Gulf, Atlantic and all Southern states are paying homage to Severe Weather Awareness Week. That’s excellent. We listen with good intentions.
While local and state governments, along with FEMA and state National Guard units, work hard to get their plans updated, there are a few million people involved in these states that often miss the point of why these drills take place and what it means to prepare.
Let’s look at what happened starting from the recent past with Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike, and devastating floods that affected several states more than once. Look at the sky the next time a severe thunderstorm approaches and watch the cloud to ground strikes that invariably result in house, apartment and business fires that destroy not just things but often kill people.
How many people will continue to lose their lives because they refuse to evacuate when a major hurricane is headed their way? How many people continue to get trapped in quickly rising water because they ignore weather warnings, don’t pay attention to local news or have a weather alert radio?