Winter Storm!

08 Feb 08

2008 has been the snowiest winter in the history of the state of WI!

By five pm Wednesday, most of Madison's streets were unplowed, hadat least a foot of snow, and were littered with abandoned cars, trucks and busses. Everything in the City abruptly stopped!

An unexpected catastrophe took place out on Highway 90/94. A nineteen-mile stretch just south of Madison became impassable and stranded over eight-hundred cars! All those cars, AND THEIR OCCUPANTS, were still there the next morning, twelve hours later. No one could get to them. The snow was too deep, and wind reduced visibility to zero while creating monstrous drifts. Some didn' t live through it!

Four lessons here:

(1) Don't travel lightly! Be always prepared. Have what you needto live through foreseeable unpleasantries. Warm clothing, food and water, and appropriate arms and ammunition should be in the kit of every motor vehicle. Keep your gas tank full!

(2) Pay attention! Don't blunder into known/predictable emergency situations. Smart people don't try to drive through storms!

(3) Have a well-tuned "This-Is-Not-A-Good-Idea" internal alarm. And, when your "TINAGI" alarm goes off, pause and listen! Getting caught in a life-threatening circumstance that was easily avoidable is pretty stupid!

(4) Don't expect someone from "the government" to rescue you! Police, fire, and all other public emergency services are, in most areas, inadequate to address even "normal" circumstances. During a wide-spread calamity, they are all, in short order, hopelessly overwhelmed! They'll be no one to help you. You'll be on your own!

/John