Preparations
At 1200 UTC on October 23, about 24 hours before Wilma made its closest approach to the archipelago, the government of The Bahamas issued a hurricane warning for the northwestern portion of the territory, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, and New Providence. The government of The Bahamas advised citizens to rush preparations to completion, though many failed to fully prepare, believing Wilma would pass through the region as a tropical storm. Many homes failed to board windows or apply hurricane shutters, as well. Officials ordered evacuations for the eastern and western portion of Grand Bahama island, and established multiple shelters on the island. Evacuations were minimal; it is estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people left. As most people failed to prepare sufficiently for the hurricane, hardware stores and food markets were generally well-stocked.
Read more about this topic: Effects Of Hurricane Wilma In The Bahamas
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete; being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and the spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)