Hurricanes Ahoy!

So, the weekend marked the first big hurricane of the season. We'll call Eduard a little one, just for the sake of argument. Gustav is a Cat 3! Cat 4! Cat 5! We all need to evacuate! We're all gonna die! OMG!

Not so much, actually. I saw some incredibly ill-informed panic this weekend, some of it from people who should know better. I guess now is as appropriate a time as any for some lessons learned from those halcyon days of 2005, when we were all so innocent about the potential for destruction. The short version: there is no problem so great the government can't make it worse. We like to preach the gospel of self-reliance around here. If you live on the Gulf Coast, as we do, expecting your local .gov to have a clue can be harmful to your health. You need to be prepared to handle your own problems for a minimum of 72 hours. Longer is better. On that note, the bright boys over at Blackfive have some advice. The most important thing to keep in mind is Laughing Wolf's advice at the end of the first link:

Whatever decisions you make, do prepare and do remember that in any emergency of any type, the only person who is responsible for you and your safety is you.

Do try to remember that in the future, and make preparations to handle your own issues instead of expecting the rest of the world to drop everything and come assist you. In general, the rest of us will come assist you once our things are squared away. I'll also note the more you have done for yourself, the more likely it is that someone is willing to help you finish up. This applies in a whole host of situations other than just hurricanes, too.

In other weekend news, UH stomped the crap out of Southern and UT did much the same to Florida Atlantic. Now I think I'll go see what NOAA has to say about Hannah, Ike, and Josephine.