Wilma vs. Andrew

Wilma is bad, but it pales with 1992 disaster

By LISA KHOU HOMESTEAD, FLA. - To people in this storm-scarred town, the four-hour gas station lines, the sometimes fruitless waits for water, the possibility of a month without power — all the woes that Hurricane Wilma brought with her from the Gulf — are minor inconveniences, compared to 1992.
That's when Hurricane Andrew struck the southern tip of the peninsula with Category 5 fury, killing 23 in the United States, wiping out entire neighborhoods and rendering hundreds of thousands homeless.
On Thursday, residents who went through Andrew dismissed the complaints from their neighbors throughout South Florida, saying they've seen what a real hurricane can do and Wilma didn't come close.
"It's bad," pharmacy accountant Sue Smith said of Wilma's damage. "But I'll never forget Hurricane Andrew. I lost my house. I lost everything except my life."
Smith, 49, who has worked at Royal Palm pharmacy in Homestead half her life, said she remembers huddling with her small children, parents and then-husband in a closet of their home when the roof blew off, revealing a starry sky as Andrew's eye passed over.
She said it took several days for water and ice to arrive in Homestead and that looting and chaos reigned until officials regained control.
"The streets were horrible. It was like World War II. There were no signs, no nothing, we were just lost," she said.
She remembers the army rations, getting hot meals at churches and the tent cities filled with homeless residents. Her family lived in a tent in their backyard for three or four months, she said.
"That's why I don't go camping anymore," she said.

No comparison
Snapshots of Andrew's damage to the pharmacy, which came to almost $300,000, show waist-high piles of dust and crushed products swept off shelves. Pink insulation hung from the ceiling and crumbled onto aisles like confetti.
By contrast, Wilma knocked out power to the store and flooded an office. A generator and a tangle of extension cords powered the store Thursday.
A poster in the pharmacy office featuring Miami Herald front pages the week after Andrew scream headlines such as "Destruction at Dawn," "We need help," and then, five days after the storm, "Hope amid chaos ... Revved-up relief effort kicks in at last."
Three days after Andrew, headlines declared 63,000 homes destroyed, 175,000 homeless, 1 million still without power.
By almost every measure, Andrew had Wilma beat: Andrew was a Category 5, Wilma a Category 3. Andrew killed 23 in the United States, Wilma's toll so far is 14. Andrew hit in August, when the Florida weather is hot and thick with humidity. Wilma coincided with a cold front that pushed the hurricane out into the Atlantic and left South Floridians with a sweet breeze to cool them in the days without air conditioners.
"With Andrew, you had a concentrated area, very heavy damage and destruction," said Mike Stone, spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. "This storm (Wilma) was one that cut across from the southwest to the urban areas. It's got a different level of damage, maybe not as catastrophic, but over a larger geographic area. So you have a lot more people affected by Wilma."
Stone said Andrew was a galvanizing event that changed the way Florida viewed emergency preparedness and helped spawn an extensive system of coordination at local and federal levels.

Cheney Aid Indicted

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 - I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and one of the most powerful figures in the Bush administration, was formally accused today of lying and obstruction of justice in an inquiry into the unmasking of a overt C.I.A. officer. A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Libby on one count of obstruction, two counts of perjury and two of making false statements in the course of an investigation that raised questions about the administration's rationale for going to war against Iraq, how it treats critics and political opponents and whether high White House officials shaded the truth. The charges are felonies.

Perjury: Then and Now

As we take a look at the charges against Bush Administration officials it is interesting to note how Reds are downplaying Perjury as a serious offense. Anyone who remembers the Clinton Administration recalls that the right wingers at that time thought Perjury was terrible. So bad in fact it warranted impeachment! As they attempt to spin their way out of corruption don't be fooled! Save the link below and compare what Republicans are saying now about Perjury verses what they said when they were attacking Democrats.

http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Perjury_Comparisons

REPORT: Vice President's Chief of Staff to be Indicted!

GRAND JURY FINDINGS TO BE RELEASED AT 12PM

Vice President Dick Cheney's #1 man Lawrence "Scooter" Libby will be indicted by the grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agents identity. "Bush's Brain" Karl Rove will escaped indictment in this first round but still faces scrutiny by the independent council. President Bush originally said that anyone INVOLVED in the leaking of this information would be fired. He has since flip flopped on this promise and it remains to be seen if Rove will be disciplined by the White House for his role in this affair.

Miers excuse for withdrawal written by Right Wing Media

Right wing commentator Charles Krauthammer wrote this "exit strategy" for Harriet Miers. Apparently they took his advice...Almost word for word!

We need an exit strategy from this debacle. I have it. Lindsey Graham has been a staunch and public supporter of this nominee. Yet on Wednesday he joined Brownback in demanding privileged documents from Miers' White House tenure. Finally, light at the end of this tunnel. A way out: irreconcilable differences over documents. For a nominee who, unlike John Roberts, has practically no previous record on constitutional issues, such documentation is essential for the Senate to judge her thinking and legal acumen. But there is no way that any president would release this kind of information -- ``policy documents'' and ``legal analysis'' -- from such a close confidante. It would forever undermine the ability of any president to get unguarded advice. Which creates a classic conflict, not of personality, not of competence, not of ideology, but of simple constitutional prerogatives: The Senate cannot confirm her unless it has this information. And the White House cannot allow release of this information lest it jeopardize executive privilege. Hence the perfectly honorable way to solve the conundrum: Miers withdraws out of respect for both the Senate and the executive's prerogatives, the Senate expresses appreciation for this gracious acknowledgment of its needs and responsibilities, and the White House accepts her decision with the deepest regret and with gratitude for Miers' putting preservation of executive prerogative above personal ambition.

Harriet Miers:
I write to withdraw as a nominee to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. I have been greatly honored and humbled by the confidence that you have shown in me, and have appreciated immensely your support and the support of many others. However, I am concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country.
(snip)
Repeatedly in the course of the process of confirmation for nominees for other positions, I have steadfastly maintained that the independence of the Executive Branch be preserved and its confidential documents and information not be released to further a confirmation process. I feel compelled to adhere to this position, especially related to my own nomination. Protection of the prerogatives of the Executive Branch and continued pursuit of my confirmation are in tension. I have decided that seeking my confirmation should yield.

Bush Caves in to Right Wingers

As I predicted Harriet Miers has withdrawn from consideration for a seat on the Supreme Court. This takes place after hard right politicians and commentators threatened to opposed the President's nomination. George W. Bush, who supporters claim to be a man of principles, quickly accepted her withdrawal as his popularity continues to plumment across the country.

CIA leak Investigation may conclude today

(artist simulations)

Wilma Update

All my family are still without power and may not be for another week or more. The roads are still blocked off but they, in cooperation with their neighbors, are getting by. Lots of Bar B Q's.

Up here in New York we felt the effects of Wilma, especially this morning. We got what they call a "Nor'eastern". That is (I guess) what they call a windy, rainy storm in the north east. We had winds of 50+ MPH here in the city with a cold persistent rain which continues. Fortunately, this didn't happen in the middle of winter or ('they' say) we would have has 40 - 50 inches of snow! As it is, there is snow to the SOUTH of us, but only rain here. The weather patterns sure are different here.

Why 2K?

Number of American military who have died in Iraq reaches 2,000

AMAZING!! Officials say this fact is not important!

"The 2,000 service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom is not a milestone. It is an artificial mark on the wall set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives."

Exerpts from Al Franken's New Book

A preview of Al Franken's new book: "The Truth (with jokes)"

Iraq: They told us that when we invaded, we'd be greeted with sweets and flowers. They left out the crucial modifier: "exploding."

Gay marriage: George W. Bush wants to amend our Constitution to make it illegal for gays to marry. But evidently, he has no problem with terrorists getting married. America can't afford a president who is soft on terrorist marriage. Because unlike gays, terrorists can breed.

Bill Frist diagnosing Terri Schiavo from 800 miles away: The FristCam Act of 2005 would place a video camera in every one of America's Intensive Care Units. The FristCams would pan the ICUs, and the Senate Majority Leader would give each patient a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.

Bush's 9/11 bait and switch: Bin Laden must have been furious. Here he had gone to all this trouble to murder thousands of Americans, and Saddam---Saddam, the infidel!---was getting all the credit! Who was the head of al Qaeda?! Who was funding al Qaeda?! Somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border there was a very angry terrorist mastermind.

Moral values: From what I understand, if you cut out all the passages in the Bible where Jesus talks about the poor, about helping out the least among us, you'd have the perfect container to smuggle Rush Limbaugh's drugs in.

The Social Security "crisis": The number Bush kept using, $11 trillion, represented the total shortfall from now until the year Infinity. If you think about it, $11 trillion over Infinity years is nothing. Over the first 11 trillion years, that's just one dollar a year. Easy. After that, it's over. You're done. What, exactly, is the problem?

Hey! Heyy! Heyyyyyyy!

It's Splat Albert!

The Today Show weatherman Al Roker tried to do a live report on Hurricane Wilma this morning and fell flat on his face. If you want to have a little laugh at his expense then check out the video.

Watching Wilma from a distance

UPDATE 12:05PM... I just talked to my parents who are shaken but not stirred. They have no power and have not been able to get outside to survey the damage yet, but they are fine. The storm was really bad and understandably very scary to ride through. They have talked to the other relatives there and while everyone has suffered significant damage to their houses, no one was injured. Now they are waiting for the last of the storm to push through so they can make basic repairs while the sun is still up. If Hurricane Andrew was any indication, they, and everyone else, are gathering their assortment of weapons and preparing to fend off looters. In 1992 that was a severe problem. This is one of the occasions where it is good that everyone is armed to their teeth. FYI - You loot, they shoot.

Lets hope the power returns soon and everyone is able to get as close to normal as quickly as possible.


I'm not sure of the word to describe this. On the one hand, my family is riding out the very worse of Hurricane Wilma at this very moment. Meanwhile, I am doing something that I have dreamed about since I first thought about moving to New York. While they are huddled in the dark hoping their roof doesn't blow off I am in a Starbucks in Greenwich Village on my wireless laptop updating my blog. To me it seemed so cool in Florida to imagine being here doing this and sure enough it has happened. To say the least, the excitement is tempered by concern for my family.

I talked to my parents about 6:30 this morning as it was approaching. Their power was out and the wind was blowing hard. The worse was yet to come. I have not talked to my sister since last night but see she posted a blog entry about 3:30 saying it was getting bad. (Her link featured below). I will let you all know how they are doing and when I hear they are ok I will certainly enjoy this New York moment much, much more.

HURRICANE WILMA

My sister lives in South Florida and will be providing first hand accounts of hurricane Wilma and it's aftermath. Unfortunately she has had a lot of practice blogging about hurricanes this year. You can find her site here.

Driving to New York City (part 1)

READY TO ROLL

I have been preparing for my move to New York City for some time. Most people I know seemed to think I was pretty calm about the whole thing. In fact, whenever people would ask me if I was nervous about moving to New York City, I would always say that I was more afraid of the journey than anything else. Twenty three hours of driving a rented truck to New York City was more intimidating to me than moving to the Big Apple. After all I have lived in Miami, London, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Las Vegas, but I had never driven a big truck nor driven for such a long time on my own. After that, living in New York City seemed like a piece of cake.

I planned to pick up the truck on Monday but things were delayed a bit by problems getting the right sized truck (see blog entries from last week) and my travel buddy had to back out, so I knew that I had to make the long trip solo and in just two days. I decided the night before that I would leave at about 3am. I figured I could drive 14 hours the first day and 8 hours the next day. Seemed pretty reasonable especially considering the second day would be in the Northeast – a part of the country that I have never driven in but I knew would be challenging.

I asked my downstairs neighbor, who rises at 2 to work at 3, to bang on the ceiling when he got up. I also asked another friend, who goes out to the bars every night to call me at closing time to further assure I would wake up on time. Both came through and by 2:45am I (and the cat which confused as to what was going on) was ready to go. As it turned out most of my other neighbors were still up and my friend from the bars came over so I had a nice send off and was on the interstate right on time – 3am.

I figured the adrenaline from driving a big truck for the first time would carry me for the first few hours. It lasted until about 4:30. Actually this leg of the trip was the most difficult. I am not used to getting up at 2am and have never particularly enjoyed driving at night. I had an energy drink but was going to wait until sunrise to get a coffee. All I had to do was make it for the first three hours, circle around Jacksonville avoiding the morning rush hour, then “restart” my mind and body for the rest of the day with coffee and sunshine.


A HAIRY START

As hard as it was for me to get used to the driving my rig (that’s trucker talk) during the early hours it was even more difficult for my cat. She meowed and whined - loudly and repeatedly. She tried to crawl under the gas pedal and walk on the dashboard, both of which resulted in her being “forcibly relocated” by me. Finally she crawled in my lap and nuzzled into me like she never had before. Together we drove into the darkness.

Finally, the sun rose sometime after 6. I had made it past Jacksonville and found a Burger King to get some coffee and a bite to eat. Although I had been on the road for less than four hours I already felt weary. When I walked into the BK the staff looked at me strangely. While this happens anyway sometimes, it still stuck me as a bit odd. I went to the counter, ordered my coffee and biscuit, and walked to the bathroom. Only then did I understand why I was viewed with such bewilderment by the staff. I had left Tallahassee with a green shirt and blue jeans but arrived at the Burger King covered in white fur. My cat’s! This feline sheds a lot anyway, but the anxiety of the trip must have hastened the process and her laying on me for 3 hours resulted in me being completely blanketed by millions of white hairs. It was a sight to behold and certainly explained the sarcastic smirks on the staff of this fast food restaurant. God only know what they thought I had been doing in my truck to get so much fur on my lap and shirt.

I brushed myself off, ate the biscuit and sipped my coffee. I was off again and feeling pretty good. The most difficult 4 hours were behind me. I made it through the middle of the night and had come quite comfortable with the truck. The coffee kicked in, as hoped, and now that the sun was up, I felt more awake and alert than I had so far. I was on my way. I was a seasoned trucker! I curved the bill of my hat, gave knowing waves to my fellow truckers even considered buying chewing tobacco and listening to country music. I felt like I belonged. I even made a little bed on the floorboard of the passenger side for my now balding cat.


RELIEF

On long drives there are many things you have to deal with, like finding a place to go to the bathroom. There are rest stops, usually about 45 minutes apart. There is always an internal debate weighing the loss of time and the ability to “hold it” a bit long. But now that I was a seasoned trucker I figured my bladder could hold out. Unfortunately, not all my fellow travelers on the road could do the same.

From time to time I saw cars and truck parked along the side of the road. In the early morning hours semis were lined up by the dozen as truckers slept. During the day however, those parked along the side of the road usually did so to find some relief. During the trip I saw people standing in the bushes or by a tree and even one guy who just stood next to his car peeing, moving as traffic passed, trying to keep just the right angle to avoid being seen by passing vehicles. The one incident though, that I will not be able to forget (unfortunately) was that of a 300+ pound trucker who was just returning to his rig after relieving himself in the bushes. From a distance I saw him walking back to his truck checking his zipper. He should have checked his belt. Just as I was approaching, he was climbing the steps up into his 18 wheeler when his pants dropped. I’m not talking a “butt crack” drop. I’m talking about a full moon, stars and galaxy pant drop! For moment he was actually stuck, trying to maneuver into his cabin while his pants hung around his ankles. Not only was I mortified at seeing the hugest ass in the world, but actually feared he would fall backwards into the roadway. Finally, at the last possible moment, he balanced himself enough to slide his bare buttocks into the seat and slam the door shut. I felt fortunate not to have lost control of my truck but did feel kind of nauseated after witnessing this moon shot on Interstate 95.


SIZE MATTERS

Later I pulled into a rest stop for another coffee and to freshen up a bit. On the interstate they divide the parking into two areas; cars and trucks. By this point I had not only mastered driving my 10 foot truck, but even managed to relate to my fellow truckers. When semis wanted to pass, I clicked my high beams and they clicked back. When cars drove too slow, we truckers would give each other knowing glances of superiority as we helped each other get around them. So when I drove to the truck area and parked, I exited my vehicle with the self assuredness of an experience roadster. I nodded to the other truckers in the area but was surprised to get mostly eye rolls and head shakes. Huh? Was there more hair on my shirt? Had my pants fallen down? Was there someone else with a Budget rental truck ruining my reputation? Oh well it didn’t matter, I swaggered to the rest area and went inside. When I came back out and walked to the trucker’s parking lot I figured out what was wrong.

Yes, compared to the tiny Ford Aspire I drove in Florida, my truck was massive. But looking at it now, parked next to all the 18 wheelers it looked absolutely tiny! In fact, it hardly looked like a truck at all. Next to all those other REAL trucks, my vehicle was a joke. When I wheeled into the extra long parking space I felt grateful to have the needed room for my oversized vehicle. But as I approached it now it looked like a Tonka toy, and I looked like a complete jackass. I meekly climbed into the cab of my (now) mini truck, holding my pants up but keeping my head low. I looked to the cat for reassurance but she just snarled and rolled her own eyes before going back to sleep. I promised myself next time to park next a Volkswagen bug.

Sunday Comics