I'm from Florida. I'm not laughing and no one else here is either. I went through hell with the three hurrricanes that pummeled florida in 2004 (Charlie Frances, Jeanne) Frances went back and forth across the state four times. Parts of it were over Florida for FOUR DAYS! Had my shingles and part of my siding blown off along with other damage totalling almost $40,000.00. I would never wish that on anyone. Took almost a year to get the inside of the home fixed because contractors were so busy. Looking at falling down ceilings for a year is depressing as hell.
But nothing compared to what folks went through with Catrina. When Catrina bounced off the Southern end of Florida before she headed to the Louisiana and Mississippi gulf coast, she did significant damage to Miami (you never hear about that when Catrina is discussed.) Following Catrina I heard many Floridians say that they wished Catrina had stayed in Florida rather than go on as she did. Florida is pretty much sand (it's one big sand dune, with excellent drainage) We would not have suffered the devastation that was wrought in New Orleans and elsewhere by the flooding. Far from laughing at them, we would gladly have suffered our own losses rather than have them suffer what they did.
I was watching Rachel Maddow ... what she actually said was that she figured that West Coast people were laughing at the east coasters over the earthquake for what they might have considered to be over-reaction by easterners to what is a frequent occurrence on CA. Also that Floridians who have frequent exposure to hurricanes might be snickering over more northern folks panic over the hurricane headed their way.
We cheered all those energy company trucks coming in to FLorida to help us out. We sent lots of our own to help out after Catrina.
We are not snickering. We are worried about y'all. Hope everyone is OK.
Smooches,
Keri
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