"Common Sense & Intelligence" A Myth among Many in General Mental Anesthesia

I’ve been on a tirade lately over on Facebook. I just can’t bare the stupidity regarding Hurricane Irma.

I posted the following:

Sometimes I get so frustrated with posts I see on fb that I just have to intervene.

All of you people posting things like:

“Hurricane Irma is coming straight for Florida, pray for me” “I’m scared, Irma is going to be a direct hit!”

Stop whining like a little bitch!

Seriously. You live in a hurricane prone state, The PEAK of hurricane season in the Atlantic is September 20th!!!

Preparedness should be a part of your lifestyle.

Stop fueling panic and stress like the damn media does!

Between high pressure, the jet stream, changing speeds of both, unpredictable speeds of the hurricane…

If meteorologists can only only surmise a guesstimated track with wiggle room of about 600 miles… how in the hell do YOU know EXACTLY where it’s gong to make landfall???
Additionally, just because it’s a category 5 now, doesn’t mean that it will be that (if/when) it makes landfall.

The “CENTER” of the “CONE OF UNCERTAINTY” is the most likely “PREDICTED” path and that constantly fluctuates.

“If” Irma hits say Key West, all you Broward and Palm beach beach residents will experience are hurricane 1 force winds.

Hell, I’ve gone out and fed the ducks in a category one hurricane! You can have 70 mph winds in an everyday thunderstorm which Florida gets daily during half the year; and none of you talk about those; add 4 mph to that and you have a category one hurricane.

Whether the storm makes landfall where you are or not, stop acting like a kid having a temper tantrum! I come on here and it’s like walking into a Chuck e Cheese with 1,000 screaming and misbehaving toddlers! Act like an adult!

Are you that desperate for attention, really?

Preparedness is not crying wolf or using fear tactics. Board up the windows with your shutters, if you’re riding out the storm, have multiple gallons of water (1 gallon per day per person) at your disposal. Wash out your tubs and fill them with water the night before. Have candles, batteries, flashlights etc…board games if you have kids.

You should photograph with time/date stamp all your belongings, furniture, electronics etc.. in case of damage for insurance purposes. If you have a generator, use it outside and away from your house and not near open windows. Fill your propane tanks if you have gas grills, get charcoal if need be. Have extra pet food on hand. Have your and/or your families/pets prescriptions filled. Top off your gas tank. Buy dry ice and put it in the freezer to keep your meats fresh a few extra days and trim any trees nearby, especially ficus trees to allow air to flow through them. They get uprooted when wind gets caught under their canopies. Be smart, not a baby!

You know what I do and have always done? At the start of hurricane season (JUNE) I buy everything and set it all aside. If we don’t get hit with a storm, nothing goes to waste, I use batteries and candles and gasoline and water all the time! If we do get hit with a storm, guess who doesn’t ever have to deal with all this “The shelves are empty, there’s no water or canned food, people are pushing and shoving, look at the lines… omg the lines!!!” Now you’re crying and whining on fb making yourself look like an idiot and causing your friends and family elsewhere to be even more worried about you. I know I live in a hurricane prone area; I am intelligent and have common sense… what’s your excuse?

What you should be posting on fb is something more like this:

“Hurricane Irma may or may not hit, but I’m prepared if it does. I have water and batteries and all the supplies I need. My home is boarded up and as safe as can be. I’ve taken all precautions. I just want my family and friends to know that they don’t have to be worried and that everything will be ok”.

Even if you are scared, even if (for some reason) you’re not prepared; you don’t have to spread that fear unto others. If you have the means, you can always leave. You may even be able to travel with friends as no real friend would put you in jeopardy if you needed to evacuate and couldn’t for whatever reason.

I was outside during all 6 hours of hurricane Wilma. I tore the tendon in my right elbow chasing that storm and I still dragged debris out of the streets so emergency vehicles could pass, afterwards, I volunteered with the National Guard, The Red Cross & Cert to hand out water, ice and Mre’s. I was then hired by the city of Deerfield to help supervise the clean up efforts. I was 17 days without power and not once did I complain or spread fear. I took cold showers and dealt with everything that everyone else had to deal with.

You’re not special, a lot of people will be affected equally and if you aren’t part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem, think about that! Collectively you’re just as dangerous as the hurricane itself and you make me sick to my stomach (sicker if you follow me).
Respect one another by not fear mongering.

(Some of you here on PB may have seen these on my post regarding my chase of hurricane Wilma) which by the way also had 185 maximum sustained winds at one point and a lower millibar reading than Irma, much lower! In fact, Wilma had the all time lowest recorded central pressure in the Atlantic at 882mb or (26.05 inches).

The 1st photo: While storm chasing hurricane Wilma, I captured this 5 foot x 15 foot slab of metal roofing fly over my head and across a football field.

The 2nd photo: If I survived and was ok taking refuge during the first eyewall of hurricane Wilma, you’ll be fine in the comfort of your own home as long as you properly prepare.

The 3rd photo: Instead of whining and complaining, you can be helpful both before and after a severe weather event. Here I am with a torn tendon in my elbow working with the city in the clean up effort after Wilma.

This is not about me, I’m not special. Hurricanes affect communities and you’re a part of that. Help thy neighbor, keep calm, keep them calm because life goes on.
Wherever it makes landfall… I wish I could be there to experience it and help out the people there in any way that I can. :/

One last thing… with all these ridiculous news stories and weather maps, the only one you should be paying attention to is NOAA. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone
If this post bothers you, by all means feel free to unfriend me. I certainly won’t be offended.

That was yesterday. Today, I added on. Though most people that read my post & commented agreed, there was enough fuel to get me fired up again.

This comment came in and I don’t totally disagree:

”People use Facebook to communicate with their support network, right? It’s a tool to let others know how we are feeling and to get support from friends and family. I worry that the people who read this are going to feel incredibly invalidated being called “attention seeking”, “idiots”, and “babies”. I doubt that that is someone’s intent when posting. Many people are TRULY panicked right now, especially after Texas. Your volunteer work and expertise about the storms is a great way to educate the community and it’s so helpful to learn from you different ways to prepare for weather events. You should do a daily post about ways to prepare for storms and what the weather reports really mean.”

Of course, I didn’t completely agree either…

I responded:

Yes and no. I think most people on here are exactly that - simple attention seekers; people looking to fuel their ego’s. The majority of fb users are ‘followers’ and they do what everyone else does which is why you see all the same posts over and over and over again.

This post was not meant to be educational, that just came out during the tangent. If people lack common sense, I’m certainly not going to defend them. You don’t need money or a college education or years of wisdom to have common sense.

When you live in an area that is commonly affected by these storms, whether you just moved here or lived here for 25 years, you either know what to do or (an intelligent person) would, upon moving to such a place; learn about hurricanes and preparedness.

I suppose I’m most angered about 2 things:

1. The people that live in these areas for a while and know what to expect, yet neglect to prepare ahead of time. Laziness is a disease and they’re all infected! Thus they cause panic because they show up at the stores in drones bleeding them dry. This is completely avoidable!

2. All these people who post an update on the storm track and say: “Well it’s headed “blah blah blah”. Then the track moves a half day later and they say: “Well now it’s headed straight for me!” I say: “Hey moron!!! The track just moved 50 freaking miles over night and the storm is still 5 days away, but nooo don’t give any thought to the many fluctuations that will happen during that span.” People just so blindly follow, no one seemingly uses their brains (even at a low capacity).

If that’s not unintelligent and attention seeking, than I don’t know what is.

Yes, I have a background in meteorology; I’m an expert on the subject compared to most, but zero of my experience and education comes into play here. This is about common sense and basic intelligence, nothing else. If a person can post on fb, they can google hurricane preparedness.

I’m stuck in North Carolina on the East coast. I don’t know where Irma is going, just like all these meteorologists don’t know. Unlike the majority of people I can read weather maps. The high pressure in the Atlantic steering the storm west, how strong will that hold? The jet stream that will eventually pull it north, how far south will it travel, how quickly east? Will Irma maintain it’s current speed slow down or speed up? All these factors come into play (and then some) it’s all guesswork. My area could take a direct hit; she could make landfall and reemerge over the Atlantic and restrengthen, then again if the eyewall never goes over inland Florida, she may hardly weaken at all. Irma could go out to sea and not affect the US mainland at all. I don’t make predictions; there are far too many scenarios that can play out which is why the path they show on weather maps is called “The Cone of UNCERTAINTY”.

Also, stop freaking saying that Florida is 400 miles long and Irma is 400 miles wide, and stop with these half ass updates where you mention the top sustained winds and that it will hit “xyz”. If you care so damn much, try paying attention and tell the truth, 185 mph winds only extend out 15 miles from the center (the eyewall). Hurricane force winds extend 50 miles beyond that. The rest is tropical storm force winds.

Look, if you’re not prepared, you have no one to blame but yourself. If people weren’t so lazy, they didn’t procrastinate and used common sense, they’d be much more calm. Instead, they wait until the last minute (like Christmas shopping) then complain about how horrible it is, how rude people are, and that they can’t find that one toy their daughter wants so bad… Well… who’s fault is that? People never learn… that’s what triggered my emotional response. I’m addressing the real issue! 😉

Simply put, you’re doing yourself and everyone else a disservice by not being prepared at the start of the season as you should have done. There are a few things that you need to do at the last minute which are relatively unavoidable.

1. Fill your car/vehicle with gas. Portable gas cans you can do ahead of time, but the car you drive needs to be driven, to work, school etc… so to top it off, you have to deal with the hell involved.

2. Leave. If you have to or want to evacuate, all you can do ahead of time is have some ideas planned out, where to go, how to get there, travel with neighbors or friends etc…

3. Shutters / Plywood. Any homeowner should have hurricane shutters (esp for insurance purposes) and plywood should have been purchased ages ago! But putting them up is usually a last minute thing.

The last thing I want to mention is that I’m sick of hearing:

“Pray for me” - “Pray for Florida” …

Look, I’m Jewish, I like my faith, and I don’t care what you affiliate yourself as. I’m more spiritual than religious. Prayer isn’t going to move the hurricane, the jet stream will…

Some person sitting at home praying unprepared isn’t going to weather the storm better than an agnostic who is fully prepared. I keep religion out of it, storms will happen, they’ll hit populated areas and they’ll kill indiscriminately.

I’m keeping a close eye on things, I could be in the path of the storm, I sure hope so! Even in my poor health, I’d have to have 2 broken legs and my brains coming out of my ears to stop me from chasing (at least a little) and even still I’d make every effort to get outside trail of blood behind me or not!

Speaking of my health, I just want to thank those whom have donated / shared the following.

https://www.gofundme.com/jayeeryk

Everything you can do is beneficial to my well being. The longer I go without being seen/treated the worse things get… that’s been quite apparent over the last couple of weeks. :/

Stay safe and healthy everyone and remember… Mother Nature is not the enemy here!

Just a pic I took while chasing a thunderstorm in South Florida. This one had 50mph winds shortly after I took the photo.

Last updated September 07, 2017