Would you evacuate?

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clemencia2us
Posts: 11445
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:21 am

Would you evacuate?

Post by clemencia2us »

Still reading news reports about Hurricane Ian.

What I find interesting or head scratching is the stories of people that did not want to evacuate. The lady with two disabled brothers - one in a wheelchair.

Another of an 84 year old lady that didn't want to at least go stay with her son. She wanted her privacy. He had to swim to her house to rescue her. She was up to her neck in water!!!

Oh man - I would be out of there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/03/rescue-mother-flood-hurricane-ian/
LogicsHere
Posts: 3126
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:49 am

Re: Would you evacuate?

Post by LogicsHere »

I would definitely have left. Life is too short as it is without putting yourself at unnecessary risk.
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MackerelCat
Posts: 7261
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: Would you evacuate?

Post by MackerelCat »

I think people get used to hearing stuff blown out of proportion and ignore warnings. This was a 100-year storm and they weren't wrong about that. And really old people often have a bigger fear of leaving home -- so many decisions and so much expense -- that they will choose to stay home and just hope for the best.
Mackie
floridacatlover
Posts: 8058
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: Would you evacuate?

Post by floridacatlover »

Unless someone lives in a hurricane prone area, I don’t think they understand how difficult it is to decide where to go or whether to go at all.

The people in southwest Florida had so little notice. The path kept shifting. Until Monday night/Tuesday morning all signs were that Tampa Bay was the target.

And where to go? People from my area evacuated to Orlando. Turned out it was worse there than here. And then there are the issues of transportation and getting gas.

I chose to go only 10 miles from home to a quite new hotel in a non-evac, non-flood zone but if we had a direct hit that could have been a bad decision.

I always remember CG taunting me 5 years ago before Irma that I was doing nothing and putting my mom at risk. The WHOLE state of Florida was in the “cone of uncertainty.” The path shifted when it came ashore and inland central Florida was slammed. Even my friends who evacuated to Georgia got hit as bad or worse than here.

The decision is not easy.

P.S. “Safe” hotels book up early. I decided to book knowing I could cancel until the day ahead. The hotel I really wanted was already booked. During Irma mom and I stayed in a hotel that this time left people in a lurch because it was in the C evac zone that had mandatory evacuation so it had to close. In Irma I was trying to find a hotel outside the state in a “safe” area and hotels were booked as far as central South Carolina.

Yes, there are shelters and that is an option. I’ve only seen photos, never been in one thankfully. You have to bring your own bedding and sleep on the floor. A person in a wheelchair has to sleep in the chair.

Some don’t have money for a hotel. Pets are a big issue, too.
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Would you evacuate?

Post by SandiSAHM »

clemencia2us wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 11:12 am Still reading news reports about Hurricane Ian.

What I find interesting or head scratching is the stories of people that did not want to evacuate. The lady with two disabled brothers - one in a wheelchair.

Another of an 84 year old lady that didn't want to at least go stay with her son. She wanted her privacy. He had to swim to her house to rescue her. She was up to her neck in water!!!

Oh man - I would be out of there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/03/rescue-mother-flood-hurricane-ian/
I'd presume the whole state was a target and take a weeklong workcation elsewhere - northwestward and inland. HOWEVER, I realize that 1) not everyone is as big a chicken as I am :lol: and 2) not everyone has the ability, be it physical, fiscal, or both, to pick up the necessities and bolt.

I wonder sometimes if people don't 'go' because they can't, rather than don't want to, and aren't getting any help from the state or any charitable organizations to do so.

All that said, one of my goals in life is to get out of tornado alley and I won't be doing that by way of Florida. Or California. Not sure where yet, but it'll have to be somewhere that doesn't usually have natural disasters. I know there's nowhere completely free of them, but there are also many places where you're not scrambling to the storm shelter (or wherever one scrambles, depending on the situation), thinking, "AGAIN?!?"
LogicsHere
Posts: 3126
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:49 am

Re: Would you evacuate?

Post by LogicsHere »

floridacatlover wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 11:56 am Unless someone lives in a hurricane prone area, I don’t think they understand how difficult it is to decide where to go or whether to go at all.

The people in southwest Florida had so little notice. The path kept shifting. Until Monday night/Tuesday morning all signs were that Tampa Bay was the target.

And where to go? People from my area evacuated to Orlando. Turned out it was worse there than here. And then there are the issues of transportation and getting gas.

I chose to go only 10 miles from home to a quite new hotel in a non-evac, non-flood zone but if we had a direct hit that could have been a bad decision.

I always remember CG taunting me 5 years ago before Irma that I was doing nothing and putting my mom at risk. The WHOLE state of Florida was in the “cone of uncertainty.” The path shifted when it came ashore and inland central Florida was slammed. Even my friends who evacuated to Georgia got hit as bad or worse than here.

The decision is not easy.

P.S. “Safe” hotels book up early. I decided to book knowing I could cancel until the day ahead. The hotel I really wanted was already booked. During Irma mom and I stayed in a hotel that this time left people in a lurch because it was in the C evac zone that had mandatory evacuation so it had to close. In Irma I was trying to find a hotel outside the state in a “safe” area and hotels were booked as far as central South Carolina.

Yes, there are shelters and that is an option. I’ve only seen photos, never been in one thankfully. You have to bring your own bedding and sleep on the floor. A person in a wheelchair has to sleep in the chair.

Some don’t have money for a hotel. Pets are a big issue, too.
One of my aunt and uncle's lived on the Passaic River and I mean right on the River. We would be at their house when the flood waters rose and it wasn't fun. Couldn't imagine going through that two or three times a year and cleaning out the muck that entered the house. No, not me.
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