Expect the worst during hurricane
Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 16, 2004
‘Stay put’ is advice issued by Dallas County EMA Director Brett Howard.
Unfortunately,
it probably won’t be heeded enough.
During almost every disaster a quick glance at the evening news reveals people actually out in the weather during a major storm.
These people aren’t stupid. They’re just overly optimistic.
While a lot of us, despite what we may think of the weatherman’s ability to predict the weather, faithfully listen to the talking heads on local channels and the Weather Station and actually stay put, others just don’t believe it.
That’s a bad idea.
Especially with a storm like Ivan.
This hurricane is expected to break records along with houses, hitting new highs in wind speed and rainfall totals.
Emergency officials are of the opinion that as of this morning, ambulances won’t be able to go out until the weather breaks.
While some people might think this is another false alarm, it’s best not too.
Even if Ivan isn’t the real thing, even if it just blows through with a little noise and little or no damage, there’s no point in taking risks.
So please, during the storm today, stay put.
Even if you don’t think the wind’s moving fast enough to shove a car into a ditch, or worse, stay put anyway.
Every EMA director and weatherman in the state wants to be wrong about Ivan, but they know that the best thing to do is prepare for the worst.