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Preparing for the Coming Hurricanes

With the recent start of the hurricane season, citizens of Florida and all along the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast of the United States are bracing for the potential onslaught to come. Last year?s major hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, wrought devastation to much of Mississippi and Louisiana, a significant portion of the famed city of New Orleans was flooded, and refugees from that disaster area are still trickling back home almost a year later, though many have chosen to build new lives in the various cities they went to once they were evacuated.

If the coming months bring even just one storm of the same ferocity as Katrina, then we could see a situation similar to last year?s horrific devastation all over again, stymieing efforts to rebuild cities and industries limping along in the wake of last year?s major storms. As the weather system stands now, we?ve entered a period ? naturally ? of more powerful storms. When you combine this fact with the increased population of hurricane-prone areas, the potential for higher casualties and ever-more expensive damage is enough to make insurance companies, and the U.S. government, squirm.

Should a major hurricane or several hurricanes strike the U.S., the federal response is sure to be closely examined for any distressful similarities to what many rightly called the slow, bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. Also sure to be watched will be the levees which were supposed to protect New Orleans from flooding but which broke when faced with simply too much water from the rains of Katrina. With New Orleans finally but slowly getting back on its feet, a re-breaking of the levees by a major storm could put the nail in the coffin as far as efforts go to bring that city back to life.