Nexus - 0803 - New Times Magazine-pages

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cost will exceed $90 million, according to an initial damage Kind of puts a big damper on belief in the human race: hide the report... truth, ignore the suffering, do it for a dollar! When Turkey Point was built in the 1960s, its main struc - What upsets me most is the incident that happened during the tures were designed to withstand 235 mph winds. Hurricane late afternoon hours just prior to Andrew striking. I had just Andrew was clocked at 164 mph at the plant. FPL officials walked out to the garbage dumpsters, located by the parking lot, don't know why the smokestack didn't hold up... to throw away some garbage. I turned to head back to the apart- ment when the horn of an oncoming car began blasting away. I One hundred million dollars worth of damage resulted from the looked up to see a familiar resident, whom I had spoken to on nuclear power plant's smokestack having been cracked wide open. many different occasions, heading directly towards me. This par- The plant is situated approximately ticular individual worked at Metrozoo. 15 miles northeast of where I lived. Being affiliated with wild animals, he How well I recall the leaflets circu- frequently stopped by to ask me ques- lated several months before Andrew "Well, this isn't for public tions about the behaviour of certain struck, advising all residents within a . . . soon species. He sped right up to me and "thirty-five mile radius" of Turkey information, if you get my drift, then slammed on the brakes. Point nuclear plant to be aware of the he went on rapidly. "But the "Come here!" he whispered excit- potential hazards involved if an event . . edly. such as a natural disaster or unex- National Hurricane Bureau has I leaned down close to him. pected catastrophe happened. Such a known all along that hurricane "What's the matter?" grim reminder of the Chernobyl "Listen!" he paused to look around tragedy. Andrew IS going to slam into nervously. "You've got to get the hell Could it be more than coincidence " outta here now!" that within 24 hours of hurricane South Dade! "Why?" I asked, puzzled by his Andrew ending, all 12 survivors in behaviour. my little group, including our ani- "T haven't got time to explain," he mals, broke out in big, raw, oozing whispered. "But I just came from the sores which itched and burned at the same time? We suffered National Hurricane Bureau in the Gables. Gotta friend of mine horrible headaches which made us so nauseous we had the dry who works over there; bigwig—know what I mean?" heaves, and our stomachs cramped badly from sudden onsets of "Yeah..." I nodded. diarrhoea. These symptoms lasted well over three months. "Well, this isn't for public information, if you get my drift," he Within a relatively short period of time, each one of our surviving went on rapidly. "But the National Hurricane Bureau has known animals died from cancer. all along that hurricane Andrew is going to slam into South Dade! They're telling the public it's going to come in at Palm Beach HURRICANE BUREAU'S FAILURE TO WARN because they want Miami Beach evacuated, and there aren't Speaking of coincidence, I often wonder what kind of a coinci- enough shelters for South Dade residents to evacuate to. They danna it jo that tha report... When Turkey Point was built in the 1960s, its main struc - tures were designed to withstand 235 mph winds. Hurricane Andrew was clocked at 164 mph at the plant. FPL officials don't know why the smokestack didn't hold up... known all along that hurricane Andrew is going to slam into South Dade!" HURRICANE BUREAU'S FAILURE TO WARN Speaking of coincidence, I often wonder what kind of a coinci- —_ enough shelters for South Dade residents to evacuate to. They dence it is that the National Hurricane Bureau is responsible for reporting to the US Department of Commerce—especially considering that during 1992 South Florida did $31 billion worth of trade in tourism. Hurricane Andrew had barely left Florida, head- ing for Louisiana, when the Division of Tourism placed a $47,000 adver- tisement in USA Today, reading "Florida, we're still open". "Most people have very short memories. We're all sort of banking on that," said Donal Dermody, Director of the Nova University Center for Hospitality Management. APRIL — MAY 2001 NEXUS = 37 cost will exceed $90 million, according to an initial damage www.nexusmagazine.com