"People Had Ample Time to Prepare"

Once again we see how, in spite of the best "parental" FEMA intentions and the reasonable extent to which logistical prepositioning was done, folks in a disaster area are left sucking wind if they were ill-prepared to take care of themselves for a time. (Yes, "reasonable" prework AND post-storm efforts ... how much should people out there really expect to be babied anyway? -- Sincere apologies to those who indeed suffered losses of all their preps in Hurricane Wilma ... but I suspect much of the current demand is by folks who have no business seeking governmental assistance at this point.)

Certainly the downwind recovery efforts from any major hurricane are always going to be tough. But the lesson to be learned over and over again is that a little personal preparation can go a long way.

Even "minor" hurricanes demand that folks in affected areas be situated under the assumption that for a few days at least, they will be without power and/or a means of getting food and water.

How much is it to ask of folks to have a few days worth of food and water in their homes? That should be a minimal threshold of readiness for all of us wherever we live, at any given time. But in the crosshairs of a hurricane, it's criminally insane to blow off the logic in getting yourself squared away if you're not already.

Check out this short news article ... Miami: Emergency Supplies are Dwindling.

Governor Jeb Bush said that people waiting in line for hours seeking relief should have done more to prepare for the storm. "People had ample time to prepare. It isn't that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water."

Emergency-Food-Provider Capabilities are Again (or still) Straining to Respond

Still another lesson for all of us ... how quickly our just-in-time supply lines are emptied of capacity of the most urgently needed items when a surge in demand is realized.

Emergency foods of all makes and models out there in the U.S. have been on backorder since Katrina. Wilma will once again tax our capability to provide buyers of emergency foods what they need in the short term. And if another disaster strikes soon, we'll be heading into a period that I would characterize as a longer-term supply crisis.

If you are in need of bolstering your own emergency food stores, I'd advise you get on someone's waiting list now. Don't wait. It's possible the list will get longer yet before it shrinks back to normal.