Evacuation?
Would I evacuate if I lived in a hurricane zone? In a heartbeat. If you stay in the areas that are low land you are playing with your life. Major hurricanes have occurred for years, and those who deal with disasters have a good idea what places will be in major trouble. Even then, the storm surge may exceed what was expected.
I lived through Hugo, and I was 60 miles inland. It was horrible over the entire state. Then Hugo turned North and whacked Charlotte. While they were without power and suffered wind damage, they were spared the horrific consequences of flooding.
In addition, there are other dangers such as downed power lines that can make entering the water a dangerous proposition. Added to that is the danger of fire.the poor people in Breezy Point and other places lost everything. There was too much flooding to bring in the equipment needed to really fight the fire effectively. If you are trapped in your house, these added problems can put your life at major risk.
I understand the resistance to evacuating in a way. It is normal to want to stay in a familiar place. I believe a major hurricane is an event whose effects are hard to really convey to people. They hear the dire warnings and stories from previous storms, but that sounds like hyperbole. Surely people have to be exaggerating as their memories make the storm even worse than it was. Once someone lives through a major storm, they know how extreme it can be.
Watching the storm from afar was surreal. I had a good idea what could happen especially as the weather pattern developed. It could add up to a huge storm in an area populated by millions of people. The people in charge by and large did an admirable job in preparing. Even that effort was not enough but it was a good start.
The response after the storm has been remarkable. It is a Herculean task that will take a very long time to clean up. They will be dealing with people have lost everything for a while even when normality return to many places.
As i watched the storm, I wanted to reach through the teevee and change its course. As time passed, it was like watching an ever changing train barreling toward a huge car packed with people stuck on the tracks. Attached to the train were carloads of misery and heartache. The time it takes for the hurricane to play out is excruciating. It differs from other disasters because many of them happen quickly with little warning.
We are all at the mercy of that train. Some type of disaster could hit any part of the country. We all will count on people who have been unaffected to help in some way. People can talk all they want about red and blue states. In the end, there are no colors or divisions. There are only people who will need help. I wish the people who are feeding the fires of polarization will remember this. I doubt if they will though.
