• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 10 / 18 / 2010

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Published: Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.Last Modified: Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 9:41 p.m. As Tropical Storm Paula dumped rain on Cuba this week, it barely caught anyone’s notice in the U.S. — even in our part of the U.S. where tropical storms and hurricanes get more than their share of notice.

That is because Paula, like every other storm this hurricane season, posed very little threat to the Gulf Coast, a region that is still weary from its most-recent bouts with catastrophic weather.

The list of terrible storms is still familiar to everyone around this area: Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike. Many of us have tales of misery and loss from each of those storms. But this year has been a change of pace. Although there have been storms — 16 named storms already — they have tended to go elsewhere or simply dissipate before making landfall.

Hurricane Earl, the most serious threat to the U.S., simply went up the East Coast, dumping rain onto our fellow Americans but causing none of the horrific outcomes that can be caused by Mother Nature’s storm seasons.

Because of our extreme good luck this year, it is easy to forget that it is still hurricane season or simply to think that our luck will continue to propel the storms away from the Gulf.

Just about everyone across the Gulf Coast will understandably breath a sigh of relief each time we see a storm going somewhere other than here. But counting on our good fortune to continue is just not responsible, not without a backup plan.

Coastal residents well know how quickly storms can form in the Atlantic and bear down on us, causing preparations that sometimes even include evacuations.

It is still storm season, and no matter how quiet our region has been so far this year, the possibility is still out there for a hurricane or tropical storm that hits home.

Hope that our good-luck streak continues, but don’t count on it.

If you still have not done so, make sure you have a plan of action in place and that family members and others involved in it are familiar with what they will have to do.

If you are in charge of a business, make sure employees know what is expected of them so they can do as much now as possible to get ready in case the worst-case scenario comes about.

And plan now for how you will get family members or neighbors who might rely on your assistance to safety. The youngest and the oldest among us are the most vulnerable. Those who are sick or injured will also require special care.

Do not forget your pets. Plan now for whether you will take them with you if you leave or make other arrangements so they can stay safe, dry and fed in the event of an emergency.

Get the essentials together and set them aside in a convenient place, where they are out of the way but easily found in case an evacuation is needed. This kit should include water, clothing, medical and hygiene supplies and anything else you might need for a few days without power away from home.

We should be happy that this storm season has kept us away from danger so far, but we must also recognize the still-present danger and take it into account. With any luck, our preparations will be made in vain, but we cannot depend on that luck.

Editorials represent the opinions of the newspaper, not of any individual.

Source: www.dailycomet.com/