A Girl Named Irene

Without a doubt, Hurricane Irene sandblasted the back side of the Neptune statue in Va Beach this weekend.  In the end, the storm did not quite live up the the hype, but I think everyone can agree on that being a very good thing.  There was some flooding, loss of power, minor property damage and limited loss of life from a storm that was predicted to be much worse.

My beef is with the hunderds of people in Irene's path who did not follw evacuation orders and then expected emergency response when they got into a bind.  I feel that if you must ride out a storm, you take what you get.  Don't put firefighters in danger because of you are stubborn.  In New Jersey today, a firefighter died while attempting a water rescue.  I truly hope this person did not die because someone was stupid.

Back when Katrina hit NOLA, many of the people who did not leave the city simply did not have transportation or the ability to get out of town.  Irene hit areas where people had the means to evacuate but chose to remain.

As this storm streaks north, be thankful the damage was not as extensive as it was predicted.  Also, quit critizing the officials who ordered the evacuations and thank them for possibly saving your life.