POLL Did You Evacuate for Irma in 2017

[davephan]

We weren't visiting SW Florida during the timeframe when the hurricane Irma hit Florida. We were planning another scouting visit and would have been there when the hurricane hit, but changed our plans a few weeks before. The reason we changed our plans was to save up more vacation time to transfer to the health savings account when I retire in a few months.

We were watching the coverage on Fox News, some streaming WINK, a TV station in Tampa, and a TV station in Orlando. Part of the coverage was showing the slow moving northbound traffic on I75, while the southbound side of I75 was nearly empty. I kept thinking that a single lane road should be built parallel to I75. Then in evacuation events, both sides of I75 could be northbound and the single lane parallel road could be southbound. This would require modifications to I75 to put crossovers every 10 or 20 miles, so people could use the southbound half of I75 for express northbound hurricane evacuation.

I was shocked that nursing homes weren't already required to have generators, when people in the nursing homes died. The nursing homes should have been required to have generators, just like the gas stations after hurricane Charley. The possibility of making significant storm surge near the coastal areas in the future, is causing us to rethink our future plans, living farther from the coastal areas that is not as vulnerable.

[HarborRat]

Originally Posted by Restrain

We were going to stay, but were in a mandatory evacuation zone. ....

Originally Posted by SgtRich

Question, a lot of you stayed, can't blame you and I would have to.

But, with "mandatory" evacuation, what does that really mean? ....

Well, they ain't kicking me out of my house. All it means is that you are on your own if you stay. I'm fine with that, but if someone has health problems it might be a bad idea. No ambulances, fire trucks, police, etc. If you die, it is your fault . But If you happen to die in a shelter, it is probably your fault also

Restrain, you lose your man card . ...

I always blame the Gov....but not in this case. Stay or leave....it's purely a personal decision. Not some "mandatory" crap. You do what is best for your "homestead" and family. Period. .

[the searchers]

Originally Posted by SgtRich

Question, a lot of you stayed, can't blame you and I would have to.

But, with "mandatory" evacuation, what does that really mean? They can't come to every house and tell you to leave. Plus, with all the shutters put up, you can't tell if anyone is home anyway.

So, just curious what "mandatory" really means. Guessing it means you can forget about emergency services any time soon, for one thing.

Basically it is hype to make residents leave. But it is not at all practical to try to enforce. Police are much too busy in the face of a major storm to arrest residents for staying in their homes. Now if they want you to leave a store etc because of a problem like a bomb and you refuse, arrest makes sense. But I doubt there is a statute that covers your living room because of the weather.

[Horation Bunce]

We went to SC. We have no generator and, after living through ten days with no a/c after Charley, the thought of doing that again was unbearable. Turned out that our power never went out, but we had a good time up there visiting family. Other than the one rainy, windy day, the weather was perfect and we enjoyed the little break from heat and humidity.

[double6's]

from now on, I think we'll leave if a cat 3 or higher is predicted to make a direct hit..stay if cat 2 or less..

[JERSEY MAN]

I would guess that many evacuated because of the 3 days of non stop reporting of up to 15 ft. storm surge on every channel. If I drown, I hope it wouldn't be in my house.

[MikMal]

Yahoo! Another permanent evacuation!

[MikeM8560]

[MikeM8560]