Riders on the Storm

I find this truly shocking. I'm from The Netherlands and a few times people had to evacuate because of risk of flooding. In all cases the Dutch government went in and evacuated absolutely everybody from threatened areas using buses and housed them in schools, etc. until the emergency had passed. No traffic jams, no poor people left behind. Other countries such as China do the same. Why can't or won't the US government look after its own people like this?

I also agree that those that refuse to evacute should have to pay for their rescue. I live in Wyoming and if someone requires being rescued in the mountains, they are billed and have to pay for the rescue. You hear the excuse that some people just don't have enough money to evacuate. I disagree. If everyone saved just $10 a week, that would be $520 a year towards evacuating. It's been 3 years since the last hurricane? That would be over $1500 to evacuate. EVERYONE, EVERYONE blows at least $10 a week, whether it be for cigarettes, beer, eating out, movies, frozen pizzas, etc. Everyone that lives near a hurricane area should be putting money aside and preparing for these inevitable events. Can't afford a hotel? Go to Wal-Mart and buy a $50 tent and go the opposite direction that the hurricane is going. I don't understand why people in Galveston were evacuating to Houston when Houston was in the same path. Why didn't they all evacuate to the northwest? I don't think that any worldy possessions are worth my family's life that I would stay behind. I also can't imagine traumatizing my children by forcing them to go through such a horrific ordeal.

Obviously, I do not and have never lived in one of these areas. I can understand each comment that has been made and they are all understandable. I can honestly say that if "my life" was in danger and I had a chance to protect that, I would leave. Nothing that I own is more important than my life. I would give up the priceless family heirloom in my living room for the chance to see the future of my grandkids. I would give up the comfort of my home for a day or a week or more if necessary. I have witnessed mild wind storms where the power was out for days and there was no running water. This to me was horrid. While I also understand that everyone is not financially able to flee without recourse, my decision without a second thought would be to evacuate as ordered.
For those who want to criticize the forecasters, you are not giving Nature the Credit it deserves. I watch these reports carefully and they Always say it could "shift at any time". The decision to stay or leave is clearly up to each person. When you leave, it won't be as pleasant as the comforts of your own home. If you stay, it won't be either! It is clearly your choice. Just as you have stories about how you rode out the storm and survived, there are people that were not fortunate enough to tell their story. I wonder what they would say......
If the authorities can save 1 Single life by ordering an evacuation, then by all means do! That life is worth far more than your discomfort or stolen property.
When you decide to live in these known areas, do you have a family plan for this sort of disaster? Does it include relocating somewhere other than a government backed shelter? Can your church contact other churces in "safe" areas for accomodations? The list of questions go on and on. What can you do differently from what the government has setup to provide saftey for your family other than riding out the storm? If you don't have any, then we hope to see you later.

have all of u that are complaining about paying for rescues stopped to think that the people being rescued might be using their tax money to pay for it...u know ur not the only one to pay taxes ...and many older people with pets didnt evacuate because of the pets

Texas did see Ike for about a week in the Gulf. But was it going to Mexico,South Texas,Louisiana,etc? Study your geography,boys and girls. Should everyone from Biloxi,Miss to Port Mansfield, Tex.,lets see, from the coast to about 100 miles inland, evacuate? Lets see, that would be 9-10 million people ,maybe, and now all of you Einstiens, where would they go? And how quick? Especially when your county is ordered to eveacuate 6 hours prior to landfall? And who would run the hundreds of oil refinieres and chemical plants in that large area
to feed an oil -dependent world?Yeah,next hurricane,lets evacuate the entire Gulf Coast,from Port Mansfield, tex, to Pensacola,Fla. Great idea....................

Ike was churning out at sea for 2 weeks, and Texans had 1 week of warning, so not only did they have all year to prepare for this Hurricane season, but procrastinated to the last minute. Thank God there were many who did leave early, but is sad for those who stayed. How many were swept out to sea, I shudder to think. People come from all over US to do rescue work in disasters, some even from Northern Michigan. They are taking so many people for granted when they don't listen.

People should not be living in below sea level areas, on temporary land (many costal areas - sand dunes are by definition temporary land and the barrier islands are just that - protection for the shore and prone to having their shape and position rearranged by nature, in drained swamps...We should as a nation stop giving national insurance to idiots who choose to live in these (often) beautiful places. They are disasters waiting to happen and if people choose to live there then they do so at their own risk. If they choose not to be insured then the government should not bail them. If they don't like the rules of living there then they need to leave.

If they fail to evacuate then the hell with them. Tax dollars should not be spent in the rescue. As others have said - bill them and if they refuse to pay take it out of tax refunds. While most natural disasters are not preventable, the extent of the damage often is (don't build there), expense of rebuilding is (why on earth rebuild if a place is going to be repeatedly destroyed? and no one should pay for that but the landowner), the expense rescues of idiots who refuse to get out of harms way is...

It is time that the government stop paying for people who choose to live in flood zones, in areas that are not enough above sea level to survive storm surges, Heck is global warming is correct what are we going to do out of taxpayer money? Pay all those twits for the fact that the ocean ate their property? this is preventable. Don't live there and the government should stop bailing the idiots who continue to do so.

What I have learned first hand in treating hurricane survivors as patients and as a Gulf Coast resident is that there are three major factors that influence peoples' choice to evacuate or not: 1) Whether or not they can afford to go. For example, much of Louisiana was faced with back to back evacuations for Gustav and Ike . Many people spent several hundred dollars to evacuate for Gustav and then could find only marginal places to stay. Some had infirm relatives, livestock and businessess that made it difficult to leave. 2) Evacuation is a terrible ordeal. People often spend 12 - 18 hours or more in traffic in the heat and it is exhausting. If someone evauates and then later sees that the hurricane missed their home they will be reluctant to evacuate again. 3) Look at the many predicted courses for Ike and you will see that hurricane landfall prediction is still far from exact. Because of this people end up taking chances as to whether they will be hit or not. Many people evacuate from a storm to later find it was unnecessary. Until evacuations are made more efficient, less stressful and less costly we will continue to have many people who decide not to leave their homes for mandatory evacuations. For those who pontificate on what should be done to citizens who don't evacuate I suggest you get out into the world and see firsthand all the factors involved in a major evacuation. Let me extend an invitation for you to experience hurricanes up close and not from an armchair.

#3. Toting the good merits of all the public shelters opened to those who can't afford to evacuate on their own? Well, obviously YOU have never had the "Pleasure" of staying in a shelter before and Apparently YOU don't watch the news either! Red Cross provides shelters and food but no protection from lice, disease, unwashed bodies, harm or violence. Citizens entering the shelters are not screened. While it is understandable that it would be near impossible to screen everyone in such a situation under those circumstances, the fact remains that you and your family are plopped down in a large dorm type sleeping area (with minimal rest rooms, even less bathing facilities if any & zero privacy) with hundreds, if not thousands of strangers that could be murderers, rapists, child molesters, drug addicts, theives or God only knows what else. The New Orleans Evacuees were SO BAD, that Houston REFUSED to open shelters for Gustav. For the last several hurricanes there have been reports of fighting, rioting, rapes, assaults, etc, in these public shelters - there have been arrests made for all of these offenses commited within the shelters - but they weren't PREVENTED! It seems to be your chances of surviving a storm intact or surviving a shelter intact are about the same percentage.

#4. To those of you that think the people who stay behind are costing the government extra money because they did not evacuate ..... wrong again! Persons who evacuate under a "Mandatory Evacuation" can get ALL of their evacuation expenses reimbursed by FEMA - even if their homes sustained only minimal damage and even if they have homeowners insurance. Those who stay behind can get no such assistance. The Generators, tarps, MRE's, Ice & Water that the National Guard hand out are for ALL citizens in the disaster area whether they evacuated or not. Infact, if you do the Math, people who stay behind actually cost the Government LESS money than those who evacuate. Bonus if they need to be rescued because they would then have to pay money for Emergency medical costs.

I can say all of this because I have lived in S.E. Louisiana All my life. I have been witness to many storms. I have evacuated for some & I have stayed for some. Every storm that comes my way is another VERY DIFFICULT decision for me. I evacuated for Gustav because I was led to believe it was "THE MOTHER OF ALL STORMS". I ran because the trusted "GOVERNMENT" had me scared half out of my mind. If I had known the 'truth" I would have probably stayed behind. Funny thing though, it has been what, 3 weeks since Gustav blew through my neighborhood and I haven't seen an AMERICAN RED CROSS truck yet! Oh, I've seen The Salvation Army, The National Guard, Electric company Trucks from all over the US and Even The Latter Day Saints ....... But nope, Not a RED CROSS to be found! Guess they're still busy spending money somewhere else.

No one ever said Texans are very smart. When they don't evacuate, they not only put themselves in danger, but put other people in danger. Charge them for the trouble, maybe they will learn.

I think people who ignore mandatory evacuatation should bare the finacial responsability of their decision. It makes me sick to see people partying and deliberatly putting themselves in harms way, automatically assume help will be there if something should go wrong. There should be fines for establishment who encourage such behaviors and the people who choose to stay need to be rescued after the fact, they should be charge the cost of airlifting or other costs involved in their rescue. And to "angel enraged" comments below: My question to you is:

Would you rather be uncomfortable for a couple of days in a shelter or die?

It is unfortunate people have to test the boundaries just to prove a point. The next time you decide to ride the storm may be the last decision you ever make. I agree shelters are not 5 star accomodations, but to have an option to do so while your feet are still dry surely beats the "I should have gone" while you lie in the path of death and devastion.

The article above is an example of someone who thought he was prepared, who thought is house would sustain the storm who now has to live with the consequences of his poor decision. A dog might pale in comparison to a human being. But the fact remains, he had a choice and unfortunaly made the wrong one.

We Americans are lucky to have such freedom of choice. But mandatory should mean madatory. When lives are at stake there should not be any such feedom of choice. I never heard of anyone die in a shelter.

If you want to stay when you are warned of "imminent death" then by all means stay. But DON'T expect others to put their own life in danger to come and rescue you!!!!! People that decide to stay should also be billed for the cost of their rescue!! You don't have the right to bitch and moan when you had AMPLE WARNING to LEAVE!!