Rain Gryphon

So, hurricane has pretty much finished. Four are dead here so far. That's 187.5 in Puerto Rican numbers.

I'd not be too terribly surprised to find that the Bahamas have a legitimate 3000 dead, when all's said and done. I don't think anyplace has ever had a storm like that in human memory. I'm sure some will have been washed out to sea, and never found. I've heard reports as well of deaths by hypothermia, from people having to spend so long in the storm, which is amazing, even though it makes sense.

*****

I'm surprised at the number of airplanes, some quite costly (I've seen what I think is a ruined Beechcraft Queen Air, among others) that were left on the island to be destroyed. People who own an airplane like that generally employ a pilot. Why on earth wouldn't you have him evacuate your airplane? Maybe they wanted it gone for insurance?

*****

The Bahamians are doing the very sensible thing, IMHO, of getting people out of the evacuation areas and back to their homes as rapidly as possible, at least for those who have homes left to return to. It gives people a sense of power over circumstance, to be able to help in cleanup and repair of their own homes. Most people will be happier and keep a more positive outlook in their own home, fucked-up though it may be, than in a community shelter. That's something the US does poorly, with wanting to keep evacuees away until services are fully restored. I think that's driven by insurance companies.

*****

I do note that the official instructions this time in Florida and the SE stress that people should bring their pets along, and there will be places for them. It used to always horrify me that the government expected people to abandon their pets. I'd have resisted evacuation, and I think it finally dawned on them that it was a problem.

*****

If we're going to allow a massive influx of refugees from the Bahamas, as some are already urging, then I hope we'll scale back or halt the ongoing practice of resettling refugees that the UN wishes upon us, and move to a strictly unilateral method of selecting and approving refugees. We'll be safer, and we'll get refugees who already know English, come from a compatible culture, and can easily assimilate.

On the whole, I'd rather see us support them in place, and help them rebuild rapidly. If we're going to get refugees, though, I'd a whole lot rather have them from the Bahamas than from most places we've been getting.

*****

In looking at the piles of debris in the Bahamas, aquamarine and pink seem quite over-represented, at least compared to here.