All of you know about the big event that gave us an extra day of summer. But if you don’t I am talking about Hurricane Irene.Okay so what was a hurricane doing all the way up here in Cheshire, CT? Well I can’t answer that question but I can talk about,” were we prepared and did people take the right precautions at the right time”? In many ways yes we were prepared but in many ways we were not prepared for the storm that hit us on August 27, 2011. People took many of the right precaution’s in preparing for this event but were they done in time? I think yes. People knew what was going to hit them and they were smart about it, like boarding up their windows or going to a shelter for a few days. But people did get caught up in some bad situations like being stuck at an airport for a day or two, or not having any food , and having flooding in their homes. Yes, going to an airport the day before the hurricane hit is just plain silly , but still, were people really suppose to know about what would happen, how bad it would be? Which brings me to my next question.
Did the government put to much downplay on this situation? Meaning, was this situation not emphasized enough. I think that there was just a little too much down play on this hurricane. I understand that the government wanted to make sure nobody got overly freaked out or scared but with an event like this, was it really worth losing the lives of loved ones to a fallen tree? 8 people were reported dead and over 2 million homes were without power for days or weeks. If the government didn’t downplay Hurricane Irene those precious life’s may not have been lost and maybe some of the power outage could have been prevented. Now think about it, would you rather have the government downplay a catastrophic event or tell people exactly what is going to happen so you can take the right precautions into keeping yourself safe?
Thank you for reading my ideas and opinions on Hurricane Irene . But I would like to hear what you have to say. I hope this has all made you think about this event but also about what else is happening in the government .
~Caitlin Gibb