All Temporary

After Hurricane Andrew, way back then, I remember thinking how temporary things in life are.
More people are affected in Houston and area than were by Andrew.  Plus this flooding is another world.   Seems to be the trend in Gulf cities.  Time to cut it out.  No more floods.

The clever mayor told everyone not to leave.  Until it was too late.  You'd think they would have info on where the low lying areas are. Plus cities, airports, anyone like that is supposed to have plans in place and go through mock exercises modeling various emergency situations.   He acted like he was concerned about traffic.  If you have a plan, it should work.

So, lots of people were just trusting their local officials not to be dimwits, too lazy to talk to the weather professionals, civil engineers, etc. before pronouncing the best thing for people to do.

It is hard when hurricanes are coming.  The local press and everyone emotional cripple looking for an excuse to freak out over states the case with every hint of a storm.  It is the principle illustrated by the fable, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".  "Nobody believes a liar, even when he is telling the truth."  Aesop had it going on.

The result is people stuck in a mess.  This time the local authority advised hunkering down.  No one ever advises hunkering up, as far as I know.  Wonder why.

I do not know where you are free of possible cataclysmic events.  I'm thinking the trick is to pick your poison, but still try to land where the threat is mitigated somewhat.  Do you hate fire more than floods and tornadoes?  Do you worry about earthquakes?  Volcanoes?  Location, Baby.  See how it is?  One man's Worst Calamities, especially as listed here, may fall in a different order than his colleague's list.

Not much went wrong in Greensboro, except occasional ice storms taking down powerlines so no power.  They would put it back the way it was and act as surprised as they could when it happened again.  It was crazy. Probably still is.  But no big fire scare, rarely any hurricane influence, not many tornadoes.  But it is not the same town.  Last time I was there, it seemed kind of hostile and ugly.  Not completely, but moreso than back when.