Hurricane Irma Preparations – Different Attitudes – Different Experience

Luckily Cabrera Dominican Republic ultimately did not get hit with the full force of Hurricane Irma, but who knew for sure in advance. These giant storms are serious matters and I suppose you can never be over prepared. It is interesting though to note how differently people in different countries cope with the experience.

In some respects the hurricane preparation experience seems to parallel the general attitudes of the cultures. For example, down here in much of the Caribbean, especially on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, there seems to be more of a laid back manana attitude about everything. People just don’t seem to stress out about much and they seem pretty resilient and resourceful. If they need to rebuild, they will, but no need stressing about it.

I contrast that to some of the reports I am watching on the news from the Miami area. From here it seems more like controlled chaos with fights erupting due to shortages in water and gasoline and plywood. They report that there are almost mile long lines just to get into the stores, only to find out what they are looking for is long gone.

Of course much of this has to do with the huge population concentrated in areas like Miami, but I think it also has to do with an attitude and a difference in how expats in a little town like Cabrera live compared to urbanites of these larger US cities.

Take a look at the video and see just a few examples of just how different this experience can be…..

 

Of course I would never expect the preparation experience for a smaller village of Cabrera and the huge city of Miami to be the same, but I do think it points out a few differences in lifestyle. Here in Cabrera, many of the expats live a simpler, but in some ways, more resilient life style. We are accustomed to the whole bottled water routine and are generally already stocked up. We typically have redundant power systems in place for use all the time. We already know they work. We have a ready supply of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, free range poultry, grazing cattle, grains, and seafood locally available year round. We do not have to rely on open roads or an extensive transportation network to survive. Most of the expat construction is fairly hurricane proof to start with. Concrete and steel rebar reinforced concrete building walls and roofs are the norm, not the exception.

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