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Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Then why are we not working on things that would prevent people from getting in these situations to start with? This seems like a reaction to something that we have allowed to get out of control, rather than fixed in the beginning.

This is the crux of the matter. There are many things going on around us that we are trying to put band aids on when we should be preventing the disease in the first place.

I appreciate you posting about it.
 

Alicia Leonard

SoWal Insider
Just FYI.

RESULTS

Examining the time period from 1979 through 1999, Storm Data listed 27 temperature-related deaths in Florida, 6 from excessive heat and 21 from excessive cold while the FOVS data listed 249 deaths, 125 from excessive heat and 124 from excessive cold Figure 1. Figure 2 shows that the number of temperature-related deaths during this period is greater than those from hurricanes, tornadoes, and even lightning.
The annual frequency of the FOVS temperature-related deaths is shown in Figure 3. The number of combined heat and cold deaths averaged 12 per year from 1979 through 1999, 6 from heat and 6 from cold, but the annual distribution of heat and cold deaths was quite different. For the most part the distribution of heat deaths from year to year are relatively uniform while the cold deaths are more concentrated in certain years. If the cold deaths are classified by season rather than by year (Figure 4), the distribution of cold deaths is even more concentrated in certain seasons. The winters of 1983-84, 1984-85, and 1989-90 accounted for 65 of the 124 cold deaths. Major freezes occurred in Florida during each of these winters.​
The monthly distribution of FOVS deaths is depicted in Figure 5. Every month but April has recorded a temperature-related death. All but one of the heat deaths occurred from May through September, with the most deaths, 47, occurring in the month of August. Interestingly, May had more heat deaths than did the climatologically warmer September. The cold deaths occurred in the months from November through February with December recording the most deaths, 53. The coldest month of the year in Florida is normally January, but during the period from 1979-1999 the worst cold snaps occurred in December.

Florida Weather Casualties


 

GoodWitch58

Beach Fanatic
Oct 10, 2005
4,816
1,921
Then why are we not working on things that would prevent people from getting in these situations to start with? This seems like a reaction to something that we have allowed to get out of control, rather than fixed in the beginning.

So, what do you suggest? Have you make suggestions for what you perceive to be the problem?

What are you willing to do to make things better for those who find themselves in a homeless situation, often women and children...and what would you have them do in the meantime?

Being generous and caring for each other is not about what someone else has done or whether they deserve the help--it is about who we are, and how we chose to behave toward others...and I, like many others on this Board, choose to help others whenever I can.

Where would this country be today if people who settled it had not helped one another through those hard times? The first settlers, the pioneers who drove wagons across mountains--they helped each other build cabins and barns, shared the food they grew or killed, and gave shelter to each other and even to strangers who showed up at their door...

I just don't understand the concept of refusing to help someone who is in need, no matter what the circumstances. He or she must deal with the judgment of their choice--just as each of us is responsible for our choices.

I hope that if I found myself in a situation where I might die from lack of an open shelter, that I could count on the "kindness of strangers..."
 
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Carol G

Beach Fanatic
Jan 15, 2007
1,933
220
Point Washington
For me the Golden Rule is a good barometer for most situations, including this. I am glad my neighbors and local government offers shelter for those who may need it, regardless of circumstance, and I am glad that my small tax contribution helps to pay for it.

I am very blessed to have loving family and friends to turn to when I need care beyond what I am able to provide for myself. Without them, I would likely be one of those unfortunate souls who must rely on the kindness of strangers in order to survive. It's difficult enough asking for help from loved ones, I can't imagine the humility involved in asking a stranger.

However, I do believe that wrobert is right in the sense that we can do better than just provide a band-aid. And we often do do better... Please do not forget all that private charities and our local governments do to help others help themselves.

I think one of the major issues we are all facing right now (we as in the U.S., and beyond in some cases) is this honed focus on all that is negative. We are all so obsessed with everything that is wrong, we often forget to acknowledge and celebrate what is right. My perception of the OP is that he is lamenting something he believes is wrong, and its cause, instead of focusing on the solution, and how he can contribute to it, and inspire others to contribute as well.
 
P

playing4possum

Guest
Cold Weather Shelters

I applaud the efforts of the cold weather shelters in Walton County and any other county for that matter. I have worked over night in them as a volunteer. I approve of everyone being warm on a cold night.
I think it is great practice for hurricane season. Running a shelter takes great team work and it keeps us on our toes for times that are even more dangerous than this.
I am all for people standing on their own to feet and feeding themselves for a lifetime too but we have to teach some folks how to do just that.
We are our brother's keeper, despite what anyone wants to believe and I propose that the sooner we get the "chip" off of our shoulder and focus our anger on something productive--we may find more solutions to this problem of people not knowing how to take care of themselves for a lifetime.
Maybe the original poster is who we need to help....can we offer you a hug?
 

GoodWitch58

Beach Fanatic
Oct 10, 2005
4,816
1,921
For me the Golden Rule is a good barometer for most situations, including this. I am glad my neighbors and local government offers shelter for those who may need it, regardless of circumstance, and I am glad that my small tax contribution helps to pay for it.

I am very blessed to have loving family and friends to turn to when I need care beyond what I am able to provide for myself. Without them, I would likely be one of those unfortunate souls who must rely on the kindness of strangers in order to survive. It's difficult enough asking for help from loved ones, I can't imagine the humility involved in asking a stranger.

However, I do believe that wrobert is right in the sense that we can do better than just provide a band-aid. And we often do do better... Please do not forget all that private charities and our local governments do to help others help themselves.

I think one of the major issues we are all facing right now (we as in the U.S., and beyond in some cases) is this honed focus on all that is negative. We are all so obsessed with everything that is wrong, we often forget to acknowledge and celebrate what is right. My perception of the OP is that he is lamenting something he believes is wrong, and its cause, instead of focusing on the solution, and how he can contribute to it, and inspire others to contribute as well.

I agree. I think this Youtube video says it all:

 
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Bob Wells

Beach Fanatic
Jul 25, 2008
3,380
2,857
If I could ever just make the money I was making in 1984, I would be wishing for something else. Why does this have to be a money thing? A have or have not thing? Why not look at the real issue, why are these people not prepared, and if they are unable, what has allowed them to get in that situation. You guys are really shallow thinkers on this issue. And I am probably not making my point very well. But from the responses their sure are a lot of assumptions being made about what I am saying. If this is any indication of Congress, no wonder we are in the world we are in.

Because even a livable wage gives us the opportunity to improve the circumstances around us and to prepare for those eventualities. Compassionate Conservative was a phrase I remember hearing not so long ago. Not so compassionate from where I sit. My personal belief is government will be the last place a solution is found, but unfortunately those that should be working on a solution and be helping more are the churches. We have lost out compassion, and I am guilty of it myself. Not to say there are not a lot of good non profits helping the needy, but there are a whole lot of large buildings with lots of folks in them thinking we have done our duty to those in need. I have been in a few poor countries in my life and it was nothing for me to reach into my pocket for some change, but I have taken a homeless man into my home in the past and fed him got him some clothes let him have a warm bed and sent him on his way, thinking I had done something for him. He was still living on the street the last I heard. Proverb/ Saying--- Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for ever. My failure is I have no solution except to give.
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,648
1,773
wrobert, have you ever had your heat go out in your house? Believe it or not, that happens.

Notdeadyet, I lean much more libertarian than any other political group, yet I volunteer to work in cold shelters, storm shelters, etc here in Walton Co. Most of the people who work in shelters of this type, are volunteers, not government employees. I think you are wrong about your generalizations, but that's just my opinion. You are free to think what you want as you stay warm and cozy in your own house. If you want to volunteer at a cold shelter, you can contact Walton Co EOC to learn how.
 
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