As I was traveling from Jacksonville, Florida back home up the I-95, hundreds of electric power service vehicles from several companies were making their way south. Among those service vehicles were the ubiquitous Asplundh tree clearing trucks meshed in between the convoys. For people living on the East Coast, these were anxious days because as we traveled north, Hurricane Dorian was predicted to turn the direction we were headed, missing landfall in Florida, where all the emergency vehicles were headed.
While there may be power outages and other wind-caused damage from the storm, unpredictable storms like Dorian stretch the ability of government entities, including public utilities, to accommodate the needs of people who are in harm's way. If government cannot protect us at all times and in all places—and that is never feasible or desirable, much less possible—how are individuals supposed to protect themselves in the wake of a disaster absent law enforcement?
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