Quick Links It is all too easy to adopt an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude about hurricanes. While others up the coastline feared for their lives Thursday and faced enormous stress and hardships, daily routines here never skipped a beat amid beautiful weather. It is important that all residents, workers and property owners in southern Beaufort County not let this good fortune evolve into complacency.
Remember, it was only a few days ago that many local residents were scrambling to check their hurricane insurance only to find it was too late to add that coverage. Insurance companies won't write policies when a storm is brewing, and this turned into a crash course for too many people. The single issue of insurance must be a sharp reminder to all coastal residents that planning and acting ahead is the key to hurricane survival.
Hurricane Isabel gave state and local emergency preparedness officers a good dry run on plans that have been updated since the last local evacuation in 1999.
One telling statement stood out amid all the warnings. William Winn, the veteran director of Beaufort County's emergency preparedness office, said no matter what improvements are made to evacuation plans, growth along the coast has outstripped the capacity of the infrastructure. The roads available are going to be choked when everyone leaves at once. The days of a non-stop, fleeting evacuation of southern Beaufort County are over, Winn warns. No matter how many lanes are reversed, expect long, slow, tedious evacuations. That dose of reality should be hitting home with local planners and residents. Planners should consider traffic impact and residents should make plans to leave early.
Hurricane Isabel also should teach us that the science of predicting the path and strength of hurricanes always will be inexact. Hurricanes are powerful, but fickle. They change constantly, and just because this one weakened before it hit shore does not mean that coastal residents should have less respect for the danger of hurricanes.
In North Carolina, one flooded resident was left saying, "It this was a Category 2 hurricane, I'd hate to see a Category 3." Some learned the hard way that all hurricanes are dangerous.
Hurricane Isabel reminded us that electricity should not be taken for granted and that the loss of electricity, even far inland, must be prepared for in each home. And, sadly, the storm also illustrated the enormous sacrifice power company workers make for customer service. An electric cooperative worker with 29 years of experience was electrocuted in eastern North Carolina while working to restore power.
Hurricane Isabel did not smash our homes, uproot our streets or turn our prized personal belongings to mud. But it did leave a number of warnings for local residents smart enough to heed them.