Nathan Exposed » Should People Flee Hurricanes?

Should People Flee Hurricanes?

Hurricane Katrina was an awful page in American history. People who were poor and had no transportation were neglected and left to die. I don’t think anyone can honestly say that situation was handled well.

When it came to Hurricane Ike, residents were urged to evacuate days in advance. Free transportation was provided, and people were given plenty of opportunities to leave. Some decided to stay.

Now rescuers have to risk their lives to fight through the aftermath and get out to there to save people who stuck around.

The compassionate, soft part of me says we should always be there for our fellow humans. The hard, common sense part of me says it was their own damn fault for sticking around, and now they should suffer the consequences.

I guess I just don’t understand the logic of people trying to “ride it out”. Nobody has ever received a medal for staying in their house during a hurricane. It shows poor judgment and a lack of self respect. It also shows a lack of concern for the other people who are going to have to rescue you later.

I’m not a risk taker. If that makes me a wimp, that’s fine with me. I do not want to die. I certainly don’t want to drown or have a tree fall on me.

I will evacuate my home, my material possessions, and everything I have if it means escaping to safer, dryer grounds.

What are your thoughts? Would you (or have you) ever chosen to ignore warnings and stuck around during a hurricane? And if so, why did you do it? Inquiring minds want to know.

Sound off in the comments.

Mon, Sep 15, 2008 @ 7:00 pm | Filed in Life | Permalink

2 Comments

Genetic traits of Texans.

1. Hubris: “Ah thunk ah’ll jes rawd this dayum storm out, y’all.”

2. Stupidity: They threw out Ann Richards and replaced her with the Motherfucker from Midland (thanks Texas) thus launching the chimp’s political career.

The thing is, Texas issued a mandatory evacuation warning. What didn’t these people understand? Now, tens of thousands have no food, water, electricity, or pet food. What’s more, the state can’t even get to parts of the disaster zone to rescue these geniuses.

If it had been me, I would’ve been gone last Wednesday. Partner and dog in the SUV and we would’ve been in a hotel 500 miles away with air conditioning and room service.

Posted by Christopher on Mon, Sep 15, 2008 @ 9:18 pm

Glad you posted on this. I can’t feel too much sympathy for those who stayed behind and lost their lives. They made their choice, so what’s to be sad over, really?

I, however, am very delicate and would high-tail it out of there! For a couple of years, I lived in Florida, and although a hurricane never hit directly where I lived (no evacuations ordered), we did have a few bad storms. Of course, being young and stupid at the time, I thought it was exciting. Now I look back and wonder where my brains were.

I think some people never get past stupid, no matter how old they get.

Posted by Riverwolf on Wed, Sep 17, 2008 @ 10:20 am