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First let me say, I live in a relatively "safe" weather area, while we occasionally get a nor'easter, I haven't lived through hurricanes (we did have sandy) wild fires or any other natural disaster. So I totally don't know what's involved with storm preparation.
Anyway I'm looking at the news and people along the coast of NC and SC have been told to evacuate and there are always those who want to "ride it out". Seriously? I can imagine it's a pain to have to pick up and leave and the stress must be high but I can't imagine thinking you'd win a battle with mother nature. Isn't a Category 4 hurricane serious enough to leave?
I saw the same thing in California with the wild fires. You're looking at fire out your kitchen window and you want to stay?
It isn't as easy as you think. Hotels/ traffic/money/pets/firearms/valuables etc. I could go on and on. Stayed during Sandy with a 120 lb. shepherd, house flooded, went up to the second floor and hunkered down. No power for 10 days, surrounded by filthy water for 3 days. National guard came in 4 days later. We survived and rebuilt and can write about. Some others, not so lucky.
First let me say, I live in a relatively "safe" weather area, while we occasionally get a nor'easter, I haven't lived through hurricanes (we did have sandy) wild fires or any other natural disaster. So I totally don't know what's involved with storm preparation.
Anyway I'm looking at the news and people along the coast of NC and SC have been told to evacuate and there are always those who want to "ride it out". Seriously? I can imagine it's a pain to have to pick up and leave and the stress must be high but I can't imagine thinking you'd win a battle with mother nature. Isn't a Category 4 hurricane serious enough to leave?
I saw the same thing in California with the wild fires. You're looking at fire out your kitchen window and you want to stay?
Why?
Cat 4 is serious enough to leave....NC has not seen a direct hit 4 since 1954...when Long Beach was wiped out except for a handful of cottages.
People don't grasp the possible effects and life threatening circumstances....others think it's silly to evacuate. It does take planning but better to leave of course. It's also hard to get back in after a hurricane...but safety first, people.
There are several reasons. One is it's expensive and some just don't have the money to leave or they don't want to leave their pet if they aren't allowed to bring them to a public shelter. The other reason is that they know their property will be a prime target for looters and in the case of disasters like this, the law enforcement can't do much about the looters who will come in and destroy your property and take everything they can fit in their pants.
Sometimes there is more danger in evacuation. For hurricane Harvey, there was a mayor (I forget the town now) who said DO NOT evacuate and got a lot of flak but those people would have drowned on the road if they had. It was hairy. To me it seemed like a lot of miracles took place, but there would have been no miracles stuck on the road.
There are several reasons. One is it's expensive and some just don't have the money to leave or they don't want to leave their pet if they aren't allowed to bring them to a public shelter. The other reason is that they know their property will be a prime target for looters and in the case of disasters like this, the law enforcement can't do much about the looters who will come in and destroy your property and take everything they can fit in their pants.
See this is what's hard for me to grasp. I live in Philly which you probably know has it's usual big city problems. I've had my car stolen, my bag stolen and another car broken into with the stuff stolen out of. I totally admit that you get so pissed off especially when someone took my bag at the supermarket (my stupidity for leaving it in the cart and walking down the aisle) because of the expense and the inconvenience but at no time did I think my life was on the line.
In the case of a natural disaster, we are talking about your life. So yeah I totally get it sucks when the things you've worked hard for are stolen by some you know what, but it's stuff.
I just really wish folks would err on the side of caution. I'd hate for this storm to hit and read about a family that drowned in the storm surge.
After Rita hit, the storm’s direct death toll was less than 10 people, according to NPR. Compare that to the dozens who died in the exodus from Houston on its clogged interstate arteries.
From what I understand, a lot of them don't want to waste resources or time leaving only to come back and have everything be fine. This is just what I've heard from people I know who live in hurricaney regions though, so my sample size is pretty small, there.
My sister cannot evacuate because she works for Horry County in Myrtle Beach, SC. My parents just flew down to South Florida.
We didn't leave South Florida for Irma because where are we going to go? It takes six hours just to drive out of Florida and we have pets so cannot fly.
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