letter from the editor

Once is More than Enough

We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared.” That was New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin as quoted in The New York Times the day before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Spared the brunt of its 145 mph winds, the worst was still ahead for New Orleans as in the days immediately following rain, flooding and storm surge swamped the city. New Orleans, a vibrant American city of nearly 500,000 residents, was ordered evacuated; its citizens now refugees.

And let’s not forget Gulfport and Biloxi, MS, which did get the brunt of Katrina’s force. More than 100 dead and tens of thousands homeless at last report. “I don’t think the scenario could be any worse for us,” said Robert R. Latham Jr., the director of Emergency Management Operations for Mississippi. “I’m afraid this is the one we’ve dreaded.”

These statements point out a couple of very important facts. Obviously, officials in these storm-prone areas have thought about this before. They knew of the very real possibility that they could be hit with a major hurricane. They feared it. They dreaded it. And, certainly, no better case can be made for the need to be prepared. It is vitally important that we know this can happen, understand what to do when it happens and prepare in every way we can to mitigate the damages these storms bring. Despite our best (and ever improving) efforts, the nature of hurricanes keeps them unpredictable. We cannot determine when, where and with what intensity they will make landfall even a few days in advance. Complete evacuation to safety before landfall is not an option.

Still looming before us is the fact that the 2005 Hurricane Season is still young. Our best hurricane forecast teams have upped their earlier predications and now say we can expect up to 11 hurricanes this year. It possibly will be the most active season on record (see page 17).

Our hearts, prayers and contributions of time, money and supplies go out to all the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Let us also hope that this event is exactly as Mayor Nagin described it: “A once-in-a-lifetime event.”

Editor’s Note: Hurricane Protection magazine supports the relief efforts of
the American Red Cross and has made a monetary donation. We strongly urge
others to give what they can (www.redcross.org).