Stuck on the Palmetto

No I am not referring to a favorite blog of mine but this bit of news-

(CBS4/AP) TALLAHASSEE Miami and Tampa-St. Pete get failing grades on their ability to evacuate people before or after a major disaster, such as a hurricane, according to a new report.

The American Highway Users Alliance ranked the nation's largest cities on how well they can respond to emergencies.

The study gives a grade of "F" to most large cities, including Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Miami ranked 34th out of 37 and Tampa-St. Pete ranked 19th. The report concludes those cities don't have enough major highways and their internal roads can't funnel enough traffic to highways.

The group sponsoring the study promotes road construction to reduce traffic congestion.

In their report they released the following statement:

"The report reveals that urban areas rely heavily on private automobiles and publicly provided highways for evacuation, as evidenced by the evacuations in New Orleans and Houston in 2005. As a result, the capacity of roads and highways becomes the most critical element of evacuation planning."

Is there any type of emergency that would require the total evacuation of South Florida? A threatened nuclear attack maybe, but how realistic is that? Plus how would we know about it.

A category five hurricane? Maybe that, but even with a fleet of buses and the tri-rail and you wouldn't get everyone out of Dodge.

The writers of this report had to report something to justify the amount of money expended to pay for it. Did South Floridians learn anything we didn't know already? The answer is no, gridlock on the highways down here is a regular happening five days a week.

Linked to- Basil's Blog, Bright & Early,