| Students Must Prepare for Hurricanes |
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| By Anthony Anamelechi -- Black College Wire |
The Famuan
Anthony Anamelechi
As far as hurricanes go, student preparedness often only consists of parental phone calls to check their children's supply of flashlights and batteries. The attitude among students as Hurricane Fay approached the Tallahassee area was nonchalant.
Students weren't seen flocking to Wal-Mart for supplies or discussing evacuation plans. Many chose to wait out the rain in their apartments, complaining about cancelled outings because of flooding.
Although Gustav did not affect the Big Bend area, students' naivete cannot continue as hurricanes Hanna, Ike and Josephine make their way toward Florida.
Florida A&M University Police Cpl. Sherri Luke explained hurricane preparedness is presented to students during freshmen orientation and at each dormitory during housing meetings.
Students can refer to numerous Web sites to determine what plan is best for them. At floridadisaster.org, students can create a "family plan" based on the number of roommates they have. Some of the basic things listed are a hefty supply of food and local emergency numbers.
To avoid heavy traffic, Luke said students choosing to leave should do so before an evacuation for the area is announced. She also said students should fill out Florida A&M University travel plans so the university can keep track of students evacuating the city. Forms can be picked up at FAMU police department.
Anthony Anamelechi wrote this editorial on behalf of the editorial board of The Famuan, the Florida A&M student newspaper, which originally published this article.
Articles in the Voices section represent the opinions of the individual writers and do not reflect the views of Black College Wire.
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| Posted Sep. 03, 2008 |
