There's an article in the Saint Pete Times today Bridges may fail in Category 4 Storm that talks about pinellas counties possibilities in the event of a category 4 storm. Of course it is all guesswork but the scenario is not pretty. Depending on direction, wind speed and amount of storm surge pinellas county could become two seperate islands with the lower lands submerged beneath the gulf and bay. Worst of all most if not all the bridges could be damaged and impassible leaving pinellas to depend on airlifts and boat rescue ops. Not pretty for the near million people who live in the county.
What does the county as well as the cities within the counties do? They allow construction of more condo towers and residential redevelopment which essentialy crams more people into a limited space. While I love new high-rises, seeing what happened in south florida after hurricane wilma, you tend to wonder if that is what's best for a state under constant threat from hurricanes. Seeing some of these high-rises, with a majority of their windows gone, makes one wonder if our building codes are not strict enough or just not being adhered to. No matter we continue to build. In typical florida fashion I'm sure most of these high-rise condo dwellers will stay put further straining out local resources who should be more focused on rescue and recovery and getting the county accessible for those who need help. Evacuation that's another story....
Apparently if pinellas were to issue evacuation orders they would cover somewhere near 300 - 500,000 residents who live in flood zones. Now you put those people on the road with the evacuees from other counties and you have a gridlock situation possibly far worse than what was seen in Texas for hurricane Rita. Florida needs to focus on the evacuation. There needs to be other modes of transportation built to get people out of highly populated areas in a timely manner. One way to do that would have been the high speed rail system but alas florida voters in their all knowing wisdom decided to vote for the repeal of the amendment for high speed rail. Luckily though, the legislature has taken a 'not so fast' approach to totally shutting down the possibility. Now we need a governor who will support alternative modes for florida and implement not only the high-speed rail but other rail and transit options in the major population areas of florida. Not only could they help our current traffic situation but they could also expedite a speedier evacuation of large amounts of people.
It's time florida and floridians start focusing on what matters. A new $40 million dollar sports center in hillsborough is not a necessity. Increased transportation , infrastructure, and school funding is more important. Instead of focusing on supporting or not supporting gay pride lets focus on what matters to all of hillsborough, not just a select few. Florida as a whole needs to wake up and demand their politicians focus on needs for the state, not special interests. It's time florida catch up to the 21st century and act like a state others look to and model themselves after.
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