Re: OT: Traffic Signals in New Mexico


Daniel,

I didn't realise you are in danger from Katrina.

Some of our channels here run direct feeds from the US and UK after midnight
so we get Fox and BBC. I saw some Fox coverage of it last night.

Some comments below...

"LX-i" <lxi0007@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:a983e$431084d0$45491c57$28788@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Rick Smith wrote:
>> "LX-i" <lxi0007@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:399e$430f8b6d$45491c57$17466@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>>Rick Smith wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>>>While watching coverage of Hurricane Katrina, I noticed
>>>>horizontal traffic lights in Ft. Lauderdale. They did seem to
>>>>be quite steady in what might be traffic light breaking wind.
>>>
>>>Cool. I hope she stays east - I'm not really ready to take down that
>>>trampoline again... :(
>>

While tiresome, it is probably a better option than letting Katrina take it
down for you... :-)
>>
>> There seems to be a good deal of uncertainty (or should
>> that be doubt) about the ultimate track; but at this time
>> the discussion is of a Cat 3 or 4 coming ashore just
>> southwest of your location on Monday.
>
> Yep - once again, the center of the cone goes straight through Montgomery.

So, this is a fairly frequent event in Montgomery? It must be terrible for
everybody concerned.
Are the defence measures similar to those for tornadoes (get in the cellar
and hope the house is still there when it's over...)?

I saw on Fox something about a 'get clear' zone being around 5 hours. I
didn't really understand what it meant but it looked like if you didn't get
out within this time you wouldn't be able to move.

So do people simply pack up and go to another area? I could imagine huge
traffic congestion. And the disruption if you have to do this frequently
must be awful.

What do most people do to cope?

Why would people want to live in a town that is frequently hit by
hurricanes? I know you, personally, have no choice but what is the
attraction of Montgomery for the general population?

As I wrote that, I realised that here we live in a known earthquake zone
(the whole Pacific rim is pretty shaky and Wellington is built directly on a
fault line) but we still choose to be here, so maybe I answered my own
question. The fact is that, for us, the risk is considered acceptable. I
grew up in Wellington and remember a number of earthquakes, some of which
were 'serious'. As a child it is pretty exciting to be in school and see
things falling off the walls and shelves and the teacher going pale... :-)
Here in Tauranga, some years ago, we had an earthquake centred off shore
about 20 KMs which caused cracks in my concrete driveway and woke me from a
sound sleep (no mean feat :-)). But, because we have such sparse population
it is extremely rare for people to be killed or injured. (the last major
event with loss of life was in the 1930s in Napier, on the East Coast of the
North Island. I think I'd be much more reticient to live in a hurricane or
tornado zone than I would be to live here, so maybe conditioning (while
Kiwis are not blase about earthquakes, neither do we live in constant fear)
and upbringing shape how we assess these risks.
>
>> I had noticed, in television interviews last year, that many
>> hoped the hurricanes to go elsewhere; but none who
>> hoped the hurricanes to dissipate. To put things into
>> perspective: If Katrina stays east of your location, it will
>> be closer to my location.
>
> Heh - well, I certainly don't wish a hurricane on you (or anyone else, for
> that matter). The sentiment was "I hope it goes away" - particularly,
> living on base, I was hoping to avoid the overkill safety measures they
> employ. (Granted, for Ivan, they weren't overkill - for Dennis, they were
> *extreme* overkill.)
>
> Dennis was the biggest non-event of the year - we had to get all our crap
> put up, then when it *didn't* hit Montgomery the way they were expecting,
> we had to be at work at our normal times.

That's kindof unreasonable. But then, the military are not noted for their
reasonability... :-) I bet the brass who made that decision don't live in
Montgomery...

> Nevermind that they gave us duty time to get our grills, lawn furniture,
> and large outside toys put up - but they wouldn't give us until noon or
> something on Monday to put everything back outside. :(
>
> It's a shame that they don't let enlisted folks be commanders...
>
I understand they do...it just takes a lifetime. :-)

Finally, sincere best wishes for all people reading this who may be in the
path of a hurricane or tornado.

Maybe, in time, we'll find a way to encourage these systems to dissipate.

Pete.



.

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