The aftermath of Hurricane Irene may have given some NYers a false feeling of safety.

[pnwmom]

Many of those who didn't evacuate for Sandy did evacuate for Irene -- and afterwards, thought the evacuation had been a mistake. So they thought Sandy was going to be another "false alarm."

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/staten_island_bp_issues_hurric.html

Far fewer people are showing up at the borough's five storm shelters than during last year's Tropical Storm Irene, and that has Borough President James P. Molinaro worried.

SNIP

"I think that people were thinking that this morning was the storm coming in, and they saw that this morning there wasn't much activity at all as far as the hurricane was concerned," he said, adding, "Last year, when Irene hit, they all went to the shelters and nothing really came."
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Yes, this family, among others, made a horrible mistake. But hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/si-family-robbed-irene-suffers-tragedy-sandy-article-1.1195721

The Dresch family learned its lesson during Hurricane Irene.
They had diligently obeyed orders to evacuate their flood-prone Tottenville home as the storm approached last August, only to return and discover they had been robbed.

So when city officials sent out warnings of another deadly hurricane heading their way, they made a hesitant but collective decision to stay put.

It cost George Dresch and his 13-year-old daughter their lives. And left Patricia Dresch critically-ill in a hospital bed grappling to comprehend life without her husband and teenage girl.

SNIP


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/si-family-robbed-irene-suffers-tragedy-sandy-article-1.1195721#ixzz2B5Zocn95

[progressivebydesign]

1. Sad. But I had a feeling people stayed behind out of fear of being burglarized.

You can replace 'stuff' not people. I can't imagine the mindset of anyone who would not evacuate. I'd be out the door after the first warning. You can't screw around with that stuff, and nothing you own is worth it.

(and I wish the media would figure out that robbed is not the same as burglarized. robbed means you're there, burglarized means you weren't home.)

[pnwmom]

2. Like I said, they were out the door for Irene, and that turned out not to be serious.

I can understand why some would be skeptical about Sandy.

And their mayor wasn't helping. Do you know he turned down FEMA help before the storm hit? That would have sent a strong message -- of the wrong kind -- to his constituents. Can you blame them for not taking the storm seriously when he clearly didn't?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/27/1151343/-Bloomberg-Turns-Down-Offer-of-FEMA-Assistance-for-NYC

[snagglepuss]

3. Bloomberg turning down FEMA is jawdropping. The zinger from the KOS article -

to answer some who have asked, the FEMA assistance is not primarily about our public transportation. It's about having resources in place before the storm so that once the worst is over disaster relief can begin immediately. Remember, many areas of the city are going to be flooded and there will likely be power outages and the like. Disaster relief, in those circumstances, will be extremely important and having the resources in place beforehand can, and will, make all the difference in the world.

How does Blumberg square this with his position on climate change? What what he trying to gain by refusing FEMA involvement frm the getgo?

[pnwmom]

4. Maybe his new position on climate change and Obama has everything to do

with diverting attention from his poor judgment before the storm hit.