I’ve been doing this a lot lately in my personal and professional life. This business practice serves me well time and time again regardless of whether I need to make a small or big decision. Cost-benefit analysis is a process businesses use to analyze decisions. The business sums the benefits of a situation or action then subtracts the cost associated with taking that action.
As some of you know, I’m an expat. Although I’m not fond of that word, by definition it’s exactly who I am. I left my native country, Canada to live in the United Sates. Florida, the land of palm tress, beautiful beaches, tropical climate and year round shorts. No more layering and snow shelving for this girl.
I’ve been a Florida resident for 5 years now and did my first cost-benefit analysis of living here in 2017 after Irma made its way through my home town, Naples. I’ve dealt with blizzards and white outs, but never hurricanes. And this could happen every year from June to November?
Hurricanes are large storms that form over the Atlantic or eastern Pacific Ocean. It can bring massive amounts of destruction, cause severe flooding and rip apart almost anything in its path. Believe it or not, there are also benefits to hurricanes. It brings rainfall to areas that need it, breaks up bacteria and red tide, provides a global heat balance, replenishes barrier islands and replenishes inland plant life. So, as Dorian is making its way closer I find myself doing a cost-benefit analysis again. Do the benefits of living in the tropics out way the risk of potential hurricanes?
Unlike a sudden emergency, hurricanes are tracked days if not weeks ahead. Hurricane preparation newsletters and checklists help prepare us for what might possibly come our way. Updates can be heard hourly on radio, TV, and the web. You can down-load apps for real-time alerts. Federal, local government and non-profit organizations are ready to lend support. Shelter sights are designated. We have time to gather supplies and bunker down or make an evacuation plan. Time is mankinds greatest currency and we are lucky enough to have it when preparing for hurricanes.
You know the saying, nothing great comes without a price? Well, it’s pretty great waking up each morning to warm weather and sunshine, sitting in my lanai watching the ducks swim in the river, and it’s definitely great to be a short car ride away from the beach for this water baby. But does the sum out way the cost? For me, it most certainly does because I’m lucky enough to call this paradise home.
Anita