Hurricanes: Getting people to Evacuate

[82Rigger]

Ron, Andy, firemedic...any of you of public service background as well as the rest of you...please be welcome to give your input.

One problem that occurs in hurricane-threatened areas is folks who refuse to evacuate their dwellings in the face of almost certain danger of injury or death. These circumstances would include people living in mobile homes, people living on the beach or within sight of the beach, people living in poorly constructed dwellings, and folks living in areas that are certain to be inundated by storm surge.

This problem is compounded by the fact that these peoples' families...women and children...are involved in the refusal to evacuate.

Why do people refuse to remove themselves and their families from harm's way?

Usually these are two primary types of people:

1. People who have never experienced a hurricane and are ignorant or have misconceptions of a hurricane's power, and

2. People who have an issue with AUTHORITY.

Many thousands of people who live on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal areas of the U.S. are relative newcomers. They have never experienced a hurricane, or if they have it was a weak one, or a tropical storm...i.e. "it's no big deal." They no more understand the nature of a hurricane than they understand being on the receiving end of carpet bombing by B-52s.

There are folks who are of the mind that the intrusion of authority into their daily lives is abusive and a violation of their rights.
I assume they see the issue in the same light as the pro-abortion or the motorcycle helmet issue: "It's my life...my decision".

So, how should this problem be handled?

In my county, at least, evacuation and follow-through is handled by city and county law enforcement and their reserves.

When officers confront citizens who have not evacuated, they quickly asses the situation...are these people just delayed in leaving, or have they decided not to leave?
If the latter is the case, the officer briefly explains the danger and the need to move to safety.
If the citizen still insists on staying, the officer then requests a list of all the occupants' names, ages, and descriptions, and the name and phone number of the closest relative. He explains that after the storm is over, this informaton will be used to identify their bodies and notify the next-of-kin.
This usually serves to "wake up" those who do not comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

If the above doesn't resolve the issue...and it may not with the folks who have the "authority" problem...the officer still has cards to play.
If there are family members involved, the officer can recommend that he evacuate his family, and explain that his refusal to do so would constitute reckless endangerment. The person can usually figure out what comes next.

I have personally never seen a situation go beyond this step.

It's a shame that public service people have to be saddled with such as this, especially in time-critical situations.