1. Maybe it is a comparison of American life versus European rather than just Florida. The same situation applies if you live in any of the other 49 states. Maybe that is why my brother and his wife are moving to Madrid to call that their home. I personally think that the European way-of-life is better in many ways.
   
   For you, as well as for me, coming to Florida was by choice.
     posted by Hoang Do at 03:38:34 PM on September 09, 2004  
2. Florida: 151670 sq. km land area, pop 16 mil
   Netherlands: 41532 sq. km, pop 15 mil.
   
   Damage control in FL is spread out over a much larger area, going by those two data points alone. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find good data on "number of electrified housholds" for the two locations.
   
   But, really, unless you are under the impression that American linesmen are supermen compared to European linesmen, those two data points explain a lot.
   
   
     posted by Grimmtooth at 04:37:26 PM on September 09, 2004  
3. You might want to move! I recommend Iowa :-)
   
   check this out:
   
   http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/nation/9603303.htm
     posted by Sean at 06:38:19 PM on September 09, 2004  
4. I think the "number of electrified housholds" must be almost 100% in the Netherlands...
   
     posted by JanC at 10:05:00 PM on September 09, 2004  
5. I understand that there is much more area to cover in Florida. IMHO, that just means they should throw more resources at the problem. :-) I'm sure there are various reasons why they won't or can't. But what it all comes down to is that (this part of) the US really cannot be compared to Europe, when it comes to standard of living, and stability. That is something many people don't realize. Including me, when I moved here.
     posted by Hans Nowak at 12:45:58 PM on September 10, 2004