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More Hurricane 2006

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Reprinted from Oct. 23, 2005 edition

Well, we’ve got no excuse.

As hurricanes go, Wilma has been about as accommodating as one could hope.

First threatening to arrive Saturday, then Sunday, the storm is now putting off its visit until Monday.

Wilma represents a perfect storm as far as preparedness goes.

A Category 5 storm attracts attention. Doubly so a Category 5 coming just eight weeks after the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. And with a year of near misses and close hits just passed, everyone is as practiced as they’re going to get.

The slow progress of Wilma toward Florida has provided more time to put all that attention and practice to use. If you’re not ready for this storm, you will never be ready.

Collier County emergency managers spent the last part of last week saying the right things.

A mandatory evacuation was to begin Friday at noon, almost two full days before authorities finally decided everyone who was leaving should be gone.

Gas ran short for a time Wednesday, but by Friday stations were resupplied and no statewide shortage was anticipated. Grocers likewise were stocked and open.

Traffic on Interstate 75 was moving. The parking lot scenarios that played out in New Orleans were not in evidence.

The cooperation of the school system was enlisted, with its buses ready to move people to shelters, if necessary.

The county fairgrounds can serve as a depot if bulk supplies such as water, ice and tarps are required from outside the area.

An alternative Emergency Operations Center is available, should the main one become uninhabitable. Contracts have been struck with debris removal companies to clear paths once the storm is passed.

A six-day supply of water treatment chemicals is on hand. Backup power should keep water pressure up, if and when a breach of pipes forces parts of the system to close. Generators and pump trucks will do their best to keep wastewater treatment going.

Twenty-seven states are prepared to send people and resources to Southwest Florida. Representatives of the National Guard and FEMA are in Naples.

The circumstances of Wilma, its early ferocity, its path straight toward Naples, the ample timeline, caused Emergency Management Director Dan Summers to observe, “(Wilma) reminds me of something we’d design for an exercise, not an actual event.”

But an actual event it is and over the next day or two, the best-case scenario is for all the preparations to go for naught. It would be nice not to know if the emergency planners play as good a game as they talk.

But we may find out.

And if we do, the burden is not solely on them.

The local media, prepped by last year’s storms and with skills honed by sending crews to the storm-stricken Gulf coast, also have responsibilities in a disaster.

And in spite of all the government planning, individuals ultimately are accountable for their own decisions.

“Every person in Collier County must accept personal responsibility for the safety of themselves and their family,” County Commission Chairman Fred Coyle said.

If you haven’t done so, what’s your excuse?