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.

[firemedic]

I hear ya. If stupidity was a disease, the world would be a hospital. I tend to look at the people you are describing as job security!

[spectreguns]

Allow me to tell you my "evac" story.

When hurrican Floyd threatened the coast of the Lowcountry (south eastern part of SC), an evac order was given It all sounded so orderly, too. Certain areas were to leave at specific hours along designated evac routes.
But there was one MAJOR problem. None of the 4 lane highways (U.S. or Interstate) were made one direction only. The authorities didn't even change one South/East bound lanes to the opposite direction.
The result? It took me, along with thousands of others, 3 hours to travel from Beaufort to Gardens Corner, a mere 14 miles. I spent 12 hours driving NNW to Anderson, just over 200 miles away.
And of course, there are countless other similar stories. Do you think I'd be apt to evac next time? Not likely. When the authorities don't know how to make an executive decision when people's lives are potentially at stake, those potentially endangered people are put at further risk because they are skeptical of the leadership of the authorities.
It was Gov. Hodges who lacked leadership. He did that often while governor. That's why he never made a second term...that and the fact he was a patent liar.
While we're on this, allow me another little vignette. On this same evac trip, we happened upon an intersection being controlled by an officer of the law...no idea whether he was municipal, county, or state. But he was parked in such a way that his vehicle was facing directly into the traffic with his headlights, blue lights, and God only knows what other lights blinding drivers approaching the intersection. I had to stop, roll down my window and look down at the road so I could tell where the centerline was. I didn't know it was an intersection till I was in the middle of it.
Now, I don't know if that was S.O.P. to set up like that or he was acting like an idiot of his own accord but that was one time I really wanted to shoot a cop. He was a greater danger to us than the freakin' storm.
For cryin' out loud, if you are a cop, tell those in authority that if they want to avoid causing an accident, do NOT shine bright lights in drivers' eyes. That's is really pretty elementary, don't ya think?

[Andy]

Rain and winds don't bother us that much, we are in a valley but still about 400 feet above sea level. However we did have a truck that flipped and was carrying a hazard's chemical (name of it was almost twice as long as my last name). We had to do an evac real quick and what a pain in the butt. Other than people wanting to know all about the accident etc. these were some of the problems.
1. Illness, someone on bed ridden didn't want to leave the warm confines of their bed and "Besides, I'm on oxygen."
2. Paranoia:
A. I'm not going to leave my drugs.
B. I'm not going to leave my guns.
C. I'm not going to leave all my expensive stuff.
3. Didn't believe a truck tipping over a mile away was a real threat the them.
4. Over the edge Christians, if it's my time, it's my time.
5. Really old, "I was born in this house and I'll die in this house.
6. Crooks. If everyone else is leaving, I have a great chance to rip others off.

Everyone knows that FLA. and the southeast Coast get hit with hurricanes, but out of no where a "haz mat" emergency is very difficult.

Stay healthy,
Andy