The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Report From Family Fleeing Florida

Posted on | September 7, 2017 | Comments Off on Report From Family Fleeing Florida

 

My daughter is eight months pregnant and lives in South Florida. She, her husband and their dog Max are among the mass exodus fleeing the state ahead of Hurricane Irma, expected to hit somewhere near Miami this weekend. They left Thursday morning and by 10 p.m. had reached the vicinity of Savannah, Georgia. Media reports indicate that many gas stations are already out of fuel, long lines are forming at the stations that still have fuel, and highways are beginning to become jammed as hundreds of thousands of vehicles head north.

Traffic was “slow, but we are moving,” my daughter reported late Thursday from Savannah. “We haven’t had too hard of a time so far. Anyone trying to leave south Florida now will be totally screwed.”

Earlier this week, veteran meteorologist Bryan Norcross predicted “an epic movement of people through the State of Florida.” Simply put, with a storm the size and strength of Irma, there is no safe place to be in Florida. Although the current forecast is that Irma will hit the east coast of the peninsula, it might wobble off that path:

“The west coast of Florida — including the Ft. Myers/Cape Coral/Naples area and Tampa Bay — are spectacularly vulnerable to storm surge. Much more so than the east coast, which still has many threatened areas,” Norcross wrote during a lengthy Facebook post Wednesday morning. “If the storm looks like it could go up the west coast, evacuations are going to be required there, which will create an epic movement of people through the State of Florida.
“If this happens, and you are in an evacuated area, do not dawdle. Do not even think about dawdling. Immediate action will be required,” Norcross wrote.

Think about this: If fuel shortages are already being reported on Thursday — three days before the storm is expected to make landfall — what’s the situation going to be like Friday and Saturday? We’re talking about the possibility of a zombie apocalypse type of situation, with people stranded and desperate to get out of Florida. We can expect reports of looting and carjacking. Then think of the many elderly people in Florida’s hospitals and nursing homes who are too frail to travel.

A worst-case scenario is likely to be very bad indeed.

 

Category: Florida

Comments

Comments are closed.