Lessons of Ivan paid off for residents in hurricane Dennis

Days before hurricane Dennis pounded into Pensacola, Gulf Coast residents from Alabama to Florida were boarding up windows, packing cars, and heading north.

Most said the memories were far too fresh from the last bruising hurricane to hit the area, just 10 months ago. So this time, more people took the advice of state and local officials and left their homes. Shelters were packed. Hotels were sold out. Evacuation routes were crowded.

This responsiveness, coupled with some cooperation from nature, made the start to this year's hurricane season far less dramatic than it could have been. Indeed, the Southeastern United States has become like a fifth-grade class that has gone through multiple fire drills. In this case, of course, they weren't drills: The damage from last year's unprecedented barrage of hurricanes was painfully real.

But the lessons learned helped towns and residents cope this week with Dennis, which was the first major hurricane in recorded history to hit the US in July. Now authorities are hoping the same savvy that helped the region survive last year - albeit warily - will contribute to a quicker recovery this time, too.

"The more frequently a place has to deal with hurricanes, the more the location develops a hurricane culture, which includes institutional adjustments as well as individual awareness," says Jay Baker, a geography professor at Florida State University who studies human responses to environmental hazards.

Certainly there is plenty of cleanup to do. Brandishing winds of 120 miles per hour, Dennis inflicted considerable damage, even though it was far less destructive than hurricane Ivan that shouldered its way through the same area last year.

By early Monday, more than 500,000 people in three states were without power. Floodwaters inundated small towns - most notably the tiny fishing village of St. Marks near Tallahassee. Along the coast, roadways were transformed into rivers.

Still, the wreckage was far less than many were expecting as recently as two days ago. Only a couple of immediate deaths were attributed to the storm - this from a hurricane that caused 32 fatalities while blustering its way through Cuba and Haiti last week.

Relatively little structural damage was reported. Initial estimates place the destruction from Dennis at $1 billion to $2.5 billion - a considerable amount but far less than Ivan, which caused $14 billion in damage and killed 25 people.

One reason for the lesser losses was the weather itself. Dennis bypassed major cities, like Pensacola, and moved through more rural areas. It was also a much smaller storm than Ivan, even though both were Category 3 hurricanes, and moved through the region more quickly.

Yet the responsiveness of local residents was also a reason the region survived as well as it did. Calls for evacuation came more quickly this time, bridges closed sooner, and residents evacuated faster. Few seemed inclined to take any chances.

"We have never left our home in a hurricane before. But after Ivan last year, we just grabbed the house insurance policy and drove north," says Jennifer Chester, whose family has been camped out in a Mobile, Ala., elementary school since early Sunday morning.

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