Hello Jim:
Well, the weather hits for the Pacific Northwest keep on coming and lessons still need to be learned. As I type this, the entire Western Washington region is cut off. That’s right! All three open passes across the Cascades to the east have been closed due to avalanche and flooding concerns, flooding has cut off I-5 between Portland and the state capitol of Olympia and Western B.C. is cut off from blocked passes in that region. All official roadways have been closed in Western Washington key areas due to flood and washout concerns. The news is reporting that since there is no way for intermodal traffic to move in or out (trucks and trains), there is a potential of limited shortages in stores of perishable goods and JIT delivery failures. What a mess.
What is interesting is that, again, people had ample warning that there was a potential for the migration from cold snowy weather to a quick warm up system called the Pineapple Express. These weather migrations almost always lead to local or regional flooding due to rapid melting of snow both locally and in the mountains. I watched interviews of folks in well documented flood plains and suburbanized farm land fail to take heed and either have an appropriate home built (unlikely due to outdated city codes or height restrictions or homeowner association covenants) or simply did not have their items in a ready to G.O.O.D. condition. Some people freely admitted to going through this several times and not being ready each time. I saw one interview where a fellow said he never got flood or renters insurance despite knowing the flooding concerns. Never mind that he had what looked like a large flat screen on the wall next to him. What screwy priorities! Some people admitted that they would remain safely in place but had to leave once the realized they didn’t have any food or water (despite being surrounded by some murky wet stuff).
I was working my police patrol job yesterday when a citizen in a known flood area asked what the city would do for them to protect them. I tasted blood from biting my tongue so hard. This citizen lived in a home worth nearly $700,000 and had been flooded before. I wish I could bark out, “Here’s a clue for ya!” I shake my head at the priorities of folks sometimes.
Peace to you, your family and the readers of SurvivalBlog. – MP in Soggy Seattle (a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber)