Riders on the Storm

Why do we need to have this discussion at all MANDATORY means MANDATORY, arrest them and throw them in jall! What about the rescurers that have to risk thier life to go out in the storm and get some idiot who stayed behind. What do you tell thier family if they don't come home? Everyone pionts the finger at someone else when things go wrong and never at themselves. No Power,Water,Medical people returning just hamper the restoration efforts and then complain that its taking to long. GET OUT and STAY OUT until its safe to return!

I still say that if a mandatoy evac is ordered and we know in the area in which the hurricane is going to hit, a house to house is done and folks still choose to stay. IF they have to be rescued as with an ambulance, they should have to pay a fee for their rescue. Simple economics would stop a lote of the gung-ho, I've done it before and nothing happened attitude. There is always that one time that something can/will happen. We live in SW Louisiana, 50 miles inland, if an evac order is issued, WE are sooooo outta here.

Simply because there is that one time that a hurricane might turn and not hit a particular forecast area there is always the next time when it won't. Stuff can be replaced, human beings can't.

As a 47 year native of New Orleans, I can say from experience that it is a myth that the 'poor' didn't have the means to evacuate. I worked in an inner city clinic, seeing the poorest of the poor on a regular basis. These 'poor' would drive up in Cadillac Escalades, chatting on their cell phones, with anyone in earshot hearing about the things they just bought, are thinking of buying, or plan to buy. I heard about satelitte tv, digital cameras, computers, jewelry, etc. Yes, there are some who are actually poor, but the young prime-of-life 'poor' that refused to leave and expected rescue workers to risk life & limb to save them , had the means to leave, but chose to stay due to laziness and ignorance. During the last hurricane to hit the New Orleans area before Katrina, the Superdome was opened as a shelter of last resort for these 'poor', and they brought tools into the dome and removed bolted down furniture. Also, some of the 'poor' started lotting immediately after Katrina, stealing tvs and electronics and saying they were stealing because they had to eat. How does one eat a tv? Also, no one around to pay for the tv, so it's not like they could sell it. I felt sorry for the elderly, the children and the tourists who were trapped in that hell, but not the able-bodied 'poor'. I was a single mom raising 2 kids, and always evacuated to a Motel 6 in Memphis when a hurricane threatened. Just used the money I stashed away for that rainy day, the money I chose not to spend on elaborate hair styles, fake nails and gold chains.

I was in hurricane Rita, the forgotten hurricane, that took so manys homes and ways to earn a living, i didnt lose it all, only a roof, but i could have lost it all..i know the other hurricanes have been bad but im really pissed at the fact the news people make light or dont mention the devestation rita did to the louisiana coast and the reason lives were not lost...cameron had already gone through hurricane audry when i was a teen and many lives were lost in that one...Rita completely changed the lives of thousands of people as far north as DeRidder...that is almost 80 miles inland...i cried for two hours while my daughter and i drove on the coast highway when we finally got to come home after a month in ark...where there had been homes and a great place for vacations there was notiing but cars standing upright in canals, clothes on fences 40 miles inland...houses sitting where there had been only water...I was one of the lucky ones, but it makes me sick for the others and the thought that the news even if they mention it just brushes it off and then came Ike...cameron was underwater again just as it was beginning to build back...now what...im considering leaving louisiana, where i was born and raised and lived for 64 yrs to go north...only thing...i cant think of a state that doesnt have natural diasters, floods, fires, earthquakes, freezing weather...oh well thats life

They left out one reason, my reason. Some government bureaucrat will determine when you can return to your home.

Have any of you ever lived day to day. What about single women with children. Alot of people have no place to go and no money to go with. Have you ever tried to get help with necessaties. It takes time and if you have children to feed, you don't have time. Instead of moaning and groaning about having to come out and rescue then, why not figure out a place for them to go safely and help them get there. In the long run, it would benefit everyone. I live in Florida and I know alot of people who want to evacuate when there is a problem but they have no where to go and can't afford a motel till they decide to let them get back in

The government and the national weather service tells you a major storm is coming your way, you had better evacuate, there is a good chance your are going to die, and you choose to stay, fine. Thats your choice. However, the Coast Guard, the police, the National Guard, etc, should not have to risk their lives to come rescue your stupid ass after its over. If you want to roll the dice with your own life thats your business. It should be made very clear that no help whatsoever is coming your way if you stay.

If able-bodied folks stayed behind and hunkered down for Hurricane Ike and had to be rescued, then these folks should be fined and ordered to do community service (clean up the debris from the hurricane) for risking the lives of emergency personnel in trying to save their dumb asses.

James

I suspect these are the same reasons people keep voting Democrat or Republican election after election knowing full-well nothing's going to change. It gives them an excuse to gripe when things don't go their way.

I don't live in Houston, but I was there with friends and family. I live further south on the Texas coast and we go through this all the time, stay or go, so we are prepared all the time to do either. To live here is worth it. Not one person I know has asked for government assistance or needed rescue. BUT for all the people who did, first of all, they only got water, ice and MRE's. Many would have been glad to BUY those things if it would have been possible. What really would have been helpful would have been large generators at the gas stations so that people could power their generators or at least get enough gas to leave, gas and ice were the scarest commodities in Houston and they were getting scarce even the day before Ike hit. Yeah, some people are just stupid and some are greedy, but most of the 6 million people affected were just doing the best they could. There is no comparison between the way Katrina was handled and the way Ike was, in part because of the citizens and in part because of the local government. Having been through Rita, I would never leave till the last possible minute and I also know that they can't make you leave but they can stop you from coming back in. I wouldn't stay on Bolivar , but most places I would. It beats being stranded on a highway. getting nowhere. Texans have had a rough go this week, many still have no power, but I have seen so many people helping each other that I will say I'm proud to be a Texan.

What galls me, is the whining and complaining from city officals, about FEMA and the US government is so slow in responding to the area. These so called officials who were leected to take care of their populace have no clue.....they had plenty of time to start stockpiling food and water for their citizens.....but yet all they want is handouts and whine when the handouts do not suit their timetable.....Start taking care of your own instead of depending on Federal resourses.

Could another reason be, the hassle they get, trying to get back to their property, after the storm?

Arizona has a Stupid Motorist Law that requires any idiot that goes around the high water barriers in order to cross a low water area to foot the bill for their rescue. This is a law that truly makes sense to me. If you endanger yourself through your own stupidity, then you should be liable for it when you are rescued from that act of stupidity. A Stupid Survivor Law might be just what these people need to get the point across to them.

No one ever said Texans are smart. Those who refused to leave not only put themselves in danger; they also put those in rescue positions in danger. Charge them and see if they live to do it again.

We need to start charging these people for their rescue when they could have left and choose not too.