I apologize for being a little bit out of the loop last week – I had a lot going on with work and the time simply just passed me by. And then we had a little storm to contend with here in the Lehigh Valley – Hurricane Irene. Luckily, we had no damage just an inconvenience of branches and water lying around. Phoebe and I decided to wait out the storm at my parents’ house since we would have no means of communication or food if we were stranded without electric. As it turns out, my apartment never lost power but my parents were not so lucky. They just got electric back this afternoon and their whole street neighborhood was out since Saturday at midnight. Mom, Billy and I took a walk on the street on Sunday after Irene’s rain had left us (we still had the high winds to contend with) and we stumbled across some damage right in our backyard. Our neighbor’s porch was met with a tree and a little further down the street a tree completely uprooted and barely missed the house and garage and landed in their yard – taking an electrical wire and other trees with it. So needless to say, we were very lucky because it could have been much worse.
I remember when I was in 6th grade and the tornado hit Lyons the same day we had Field Day. It was our last week of school, we missed 2 days and we did not have to make them up either. And now 15 years later, Kutztown School District will be closed for several more days because of no electricity at 2 of their elementary schools – I believe they will not make have to make up the days either because both Governor Corbett and President Obama have declared parts of the state in emergency. What does a ‘State of Emergency’ mean anyway? I think we use it so often during snow storms that we take it for granted?
The help from MentalFloss - a state of emergency is when the governor and his emergency management team give themselves extra time and money to deal with the situation/s. Of course it varies from state-to-state but it gives the Governor the authority to close state offices, deploy the National Guard and other emergency responders, and make evacuation recommendations. Other powers are specific to the situation – like reducing the speed limit during blizzard (or even shutting down the roads). We did experience the speed reduction this weekend on Interstates 78 & 22 when the speed limit was reduced from 55 & 65 to 45mph.
Despite Mom & I taking a few courses on disasters and volunteerism we were still NOT prepared for the wrath Irene brought us. We found ourselves without a battery powered radio and enough lighters/matches for candles. Even though we had enough candles, water (remember to have enough for drinking and sanitation) and food. Please be prepared – you can never been too prepared in any circumstance – emergency or non-emergency. The State of Pennsylvania has a great website http://www.readypa.org/ in which it tells you how to prepare for any weather-related emergency you might encounter and it always provides helpful tips on what you should put in your ‘Emergency Kit’ and yes, everyone should have one for their home and for their car!
A lot of people have been saying the media over-dramatized Irene which led to unnecessary preparations and evacuations – I strong disagree. Did Hurricane Katrina teach us nothing? I understand that citizens do not have to leave in a mandatory evacuation however Katrina was one of the biggest hurricanes we saw in decades and it was not taken seriously. The aftermath was a direct result of that. But it did give our government a huge wakeup call on how to properly educate citizens in the line of potential disaster, giving adequate times and having ample back-up plans. So, in retrospect I do not think the news, meteorologists or politicians over reacted. I think they reacted in order to keep us safe, most of the deaths from Hurricane Irene were people driving in the dangerous flood waters or not taking proper precautions and being out in the storm. While Irene was not as bad as they predicted it still was a scary experience and one I hopefully don’t have to ever experience again.
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