Irene Blown Way Out of Proportion


Although it’s now been shown that hurricane Irene was blown way out of proportion, that did not stop public officials from ordering evacuations of over 2 million people this past weekend. These individuals were forced to leave their homes and belongings behind in order to ensure their safety.

While I think it is important that we take appropriate precautions when it comes to these types of scenarios, I can’t help but wonder why the government found it necessary to shut down the New York City public transportation system for the first time in history over 65mph winds.

I have my theories and questions about the real reason this drastic evacuation was ordered but we’ll save that for another day.

Regardless of whether or not it is absolutely necessary, the government has the power to kick us out of our own homes based on overblown, unsubstantiated information. They leave us to fend for ourselves and expect us to know how to react in such a crisis. The problem is, we are rarely ever educated on such survival tactics in everyday life. Only those of us who truly seek this knowledge will know how to handle such scenarios with grace.

With the recent influx of natural disasters in this country it’s becoming blatantly obvious that it’s time we take matters of survival into our own hands. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way and that knowledge can save lives.

After reading through this awesome Hurricane Survival Guide I feel much better prepared for the next one. If you leave in a hurricane prone area I highly recommend this book. It literally covers everything you could possibly need to know to survive a hurricane and other natural disasters.

Tornadoes, Hurricanes, and Tsunamis: A Practical Survival Guide

SOURCES:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/205380/20110829/hurricane-irene-new-york-nyc-mayor-bloomberg-subway-mta-evacuation-order.htm

***This article was contributed by Chrystle Poss a.k.a. “Survival Girl”, a Survival Spot Blog Guest Author and devoted Prepper. She has been writing articles on survival and emergency preparedness since 2006. You can find her work on various websites and publications.***

4 Responses

  1. Jack

    The evacuation plans and the plans to shut down the NYC transit system were all part of plans that were designed after watching Hurricane Katrina devastate the southeast. These were standard planning operations. The NE does not get hurricanes like the south east, and winds were predicted in their worst case at just over 100MPH. Better safe than sorry? Better safe than have to depend on FEMA? You decide

    Reply
  2. Jason

    How was it shown to be blown out of proportion? Western Mass and Vermont were devastated by the tropical storm so that means blown out of proportion? How do you figure?

    Reply
  3. Giovanni

    The article says the evacuation of New York city and the closing down of the subway for a thunderstorm (which is all Irene was by the time it reached us) was unwarranted which I can say is absolutely true since I live there.

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  4. desertrat

    There will be all kinds of conspiracy theories about NY subways being shut down along with the mass evacuations; fortunately there are lessons we can take away from this, but that decision is up to us. Given the height above sea level of Manhattan, Long and other NY Islands, subway, motor vehicle, and utility tunnels flooding was highly likely (Irene and high tide at the same time), and would have resulted in the loss of electricity, that includes those handy C-phone towers, food delivery disruptions, sewage treatment & disposal, quite possibly fresh water, and the list goes on.

    Yes, the Federal and State Governments [can generally] order us out of our homes under exigent circumstances. This 'power' is one that those that voters have given permission to these entities to do. Those that don't vote are even worse than the the officials that spend our money (their salaries) figuring out those compelling legal arguments. We willing give up our freedoms and rights for the illusion of security- we get what we deserve.

    Simply the question becomes- what have we learned from this?

    Reply

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