It was remindful of the snowstorms that fizzle after days of alerts and preparation. Such was the story with Hurricane Earl. After days of watching it closely, mapping each and every possible track, and figuring the area would (at least) get a good dousing Tropical Storm-style, the once mighty Earl petered out, and became nothing more than a few puddles.

Earl moved further east, we were told, because fronts moving along the plains and into New England affected its final path. The lesson learned: for all the computerization and virtual reality imaging, tracking hurricanes – or any storms for that matter – is not an exact science. But, there were other lessons that we must learn from this near miss last week.

It has been a quarter-century since Connecticut was hit by a hurricane, the last being Gloria in 1985. Since then, more than a generation of residents has grown not knowing the devastation and danger that is associated with large-scale storms. There are adults today who do not know the severity of storms from 1938, or 1954 or any of the several that hit the area between the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Similarly, a large portion of first-responders, such as police and fire fighters, have not known the havoc such storms can cause. Studying them and practicing are not the same as experience, but we have to believe, based on what we saw last week, the area was well prepared. Emergency preparedness was on the minds of municipal leaders and state officials. Should Earl have decided to pay a more potent visit, the coordination seemed to be there to help should the need present itself.

On a more personal note, families should have taken their own lessons out of last week’s near miss. Those of us old enough to remember going days without power and what can be considered the things of life we take for granted, know that a family must be prepared should a natural disaster occur. We hope last week’s events make city residents more aware of their own need to be ready with bottled water, food and other necessities.

Hurricane Earl became a victim of the same Mother Nature that spawned him. We in the southern Connecticut area were lucky. It could have been much worse. But this is only the first of what promise to be several storms on the horizon. The area has enjoyed one of the warmest summers it has experienced in almost a decade. The warm weather has heated area coastal waters in such a way a storm could find a pathway to our door.

State and local officials, who found the strengths and weaknesses in local and regional preparedness, learned lessons that will make us safer in the future. Families, we hope, learned lessons that will make them more cognizant of the need for planning.

Earl made us aware. Let’s hope he made us more prepared.