Hurricanes are no big deal, right?

So we all know that America has a short memory, right? As in, though the country was hit by three destructive hurricanes last year, a new poll finds that more than half of Americans living on the coast don't feel vulnerable to hurricanes. And though people said they would evacuate if a storm came their way, most don't have a disaster plan prepared. The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, questioned coastal residents from Texas to Maine, and the findings were a surprise to national storm-tracking officials.

"It baffles me. I honestly don't understand that," [National Hurricane Center director Max] Mayfield said. "For whatever reason, some people are reacting to the hurricane threat by sticking their heads in the sand."

The good news is that people on th Gulf Coast, the Florida coast and in the Carolinas are more aware of the threat posed by hurricanes than the average coastal American: 58 percent of people between Texas and North Carolina said they feel vulnerable, compared with 30 percent farther north. The bad news, though: God has told Pat Robertson that we're in for a hell of a storm season in 2006. Specifically, Robertson said the guy upstairs will hit the Pacific Northwest with a tsunami this year. We guess we'll have to make room on the couch for our friends from Seattle when they wash up in our yard.

Seriously, though, Houstonist knows we haven't thought much about a hurricane plan, which is probably why we were one of the fools running around looking for batteries and Nutter Butters when we thought Rita was headed our way. If you're interested, the CDC has a good set of tips on how to get ready for the storm season — as we found out last year, it pays to be ready.