Posted on 01/10/2022 2:36:03 PM PST by MercyFlush
The title of this essay takes the form of a question that many people are sometimes forced to ask themselves, "Should I Evacuate?".
I'll go on here but let me get right to the point and say that if you're in a situation where you're wondering if you need to evacuate then GO. It is time to get out.
What if you're wrong? Well, then you can go back to wherever you were after you feel safe to do so. But don't be worried that you might be wrong when you're in the moment, just act appropriately for your safety and for the safety of your loved ones.
From time immemorial people have found themselves in moments where they should have paid attention to what they saw with their eyes and felt as a person instead of deferring to self-appointed authorities who seem to always respond to every disaster with, "Everything is fine!"
In this century there have been several instances of people feeling wary of a situation and then fatally deferring to an authority who sometimes inexplicably denies the danger even when it is abundantly obvious.
September 11, 2001 was such an instance. When American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center the procedure in place was that the South Tower should have immediately evacuated. Instead there are numerous stories of managers telling their subordinates and even people who didn't work for them to go back to their offices! A few hardy souls ignored these idiots and they survived to tell of the experience. Those people who listened to their idiot managers died.
On December 26, 2004 the massive 9.1 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake took place causing tsunamis all around the Indian Ocean. Friends of mine who were on vacation in Thailand were at a beach front restaurant when the waters suddenly and drastically receded and uncovered a sea bottom that even the lowest low tide had never revealed. When they pointed this out to their English waitress she looked and said, "RUN!!!" and then she dropped everything to run for high ground.
My friends contemplated this for a moment and then grabbed their things and ran to follow the waitress. Other people present including at least one Thai police officer told them there was nothing to worry about. But they kept running. The tsunami caught up with them and they got soaked and injured but they still made it to high ground. The people they had been dining with died.
November 8, 2018 saw the eruption of the devastating and fast moving "Camp Fire" which obliterated the city of Paradise, California and the nearby town of Concow. Smoke and embers were blown ahead of the fire by high winds and people in both communities worried about what they saw and when they called 911 the dispatchers repeatedly told people 1) there was nothing to worry about and 2) not to evacuate.
Eighty five people were confirmed dead in this fire. Many of them died in their homes and still more of them died in their personal vehicles when, too late, they ignored official advice and went to evacuate. The 911 dispatchers bear some of this responsibility because they ignored the fact of numerous people calling to report the fire and instead chose to believe that it was no big deal.
The recent tornadoes in the American Midwest were yet another demonstration of idiot authorities telling people to ignore their own good judgment.
Six workers at an Amazon warehouse and eight more at a candle factory died because selfish, pinheaded managers told them to ignore the weather alerts and tornado sirens . These people were told to stay at work or get fired for leaving.
A few wise people left these places anyway and they sought shelter where they could. Good for them.
The point here is that your safety is up to you. If you feel unsafe in a situation then get going! Don't worry about being embarrassed just in case it's no big deal, no you need to worry about being DEAD just in case it is a big deal.
It's okay to be wrong.
So get out of there. Get to safety. If things then seem to be safe then go back. But listen to your own judgment when it tells you that you're in danger.
So far as authorities go if they tell you to evacuate then I'd suggest doing so. But if they tell you nothing is going on when everything else is screaming DANGER!! to you then get going. Better yet, just get going and call someone after you get to a place of safety.
Seriously, when it comes to safety it's a good idea to play it safe. Err on the side of caution. It might save your life.
MF
I say stand in place where you are - why sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic and try to get a place to sleep?
If you have to go, then go. it’s bad to hold it in.
Yep, Mama always said “you snooze, you lose”. Beat the crowds… it’s easier that way.
Two answers first I don’t like local officials, the government, telling me to leave my house, to not go somewhere, tonight,etc. If their advice is good, and you trust it, act on it. But if not, at the end of the day should be your choice, Soli your choice not the government as to what you do or don’t do. We need to restore individual accountability, and that includes individual responsibility, and individual choice. We don’t have much of that lately.
Nope, I will use my own judgement about the what, why and when to evacuate. I will not automatically assume that the panicked neighbor, news caster or politician is even capable of knowing my situation or resources available to me.
“I say stand in place where you are - why sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic and try to get a place to sleep?”
****
Usually problems like these carry a lot of ambivalence, there are pros and cons to staying, pros and cons to going, and really neither seem like a great idea.
I just wait for the authorities to tell me what to do - then do the opposite.
Case in point - this entire “pandemic”.
So far, the opposite has been the right move every time.
Since you are a member for less than a year.
My advice - Go to the bathroom or get off the pot.
1. You can keep worrying about things that you have no control over and it wouldn’t matter anyway. Or.
2. Be decisive and do something. Shelter in place. In a secure familiar area with proper planning or leave. If you leave have a place to land.
Don’t come around here if all of those things are happening to you. Go to California or New York.
“Nope, I will use my own judgement about the what, why and when to evacuate.”
You can do that. But when risk-averse authorities (who are not always government officials) tell you it’s time to go they’re going to be right for most people. But if you’re prepared for a particular disaster and you feel safer staying in place then do so.
“I say stand in place where you are - why sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic and try to get a place to sleep?”
Because if you were in Paradise, California when the fire hit you’d be #86.
“We need to restore individual accountability, and that includes individual responsibility, and individual choice. We don’t have much of that lately.”
I agree.
“Since you are a member for less than a year.”
The account is new. I’ve been on FR since 2004.
If you have to go, then go. it’s bad to hold it in.
—
Don’t forget to flush 😂
Every place has problems. Life is risky.
Florida has hurricanes, rural Minnesota has severe cold and tornadoes, and Texas has severe heat, tornadoes and hurricanes.
Where you live depends on where you have family, where you can find a job, where you can find a church community and quality of life issues.
I live in the Philippines because my family is here. We have had 3 typhoons hit us since we moved here...one was severe with flooding and loss of city water and electricity and blocked roads for a week. But family gets one through emergencies.
I’ve distilled the issue down to “which way would you rather be wrong?”
>>> I’ve distilled the issue down to “which way would you rather be wrong?” <<<
Alive and wrong is much better than dead and wrong.
Q: If you leave the National Championship game in the 3rd quarter, will they let you back in if you were “wrong?”
Q: If you leave the National Championship game in the 3rd quarter, will they let you back in if you were “wrong?”
A: If you feel at threat at some point in the game then go to the snack bar, bathroom, or a concourse where you can return to the game if you wish or you can also exploit a head start to the exits.
I will say that the idea of being anywhere with 80,000 to 100,000 other people scares the snot out of me. People are stupid. Crowds of people are capable of amazing feats of stupidity when they act together.
A few years ago, I was at my desk at work. The office is a 150 year old converted factory on the east coast.
Suddenly the building began to rumble. As we looked at each other, I thought it might be a construction accident due to some work being done on the floor below us.
Then there was another rumble that shook the building. I saw some concrete fall.
Everyone was just sort of dumbly looking at each other. I yelled “Everybody out NOW!”
I pulled the fire alarm, which naturally didn’t work and proceeded to guide everyone out. I was the last one out.
It turned out to be an earthquake, which was very unusual for that area and caused no significant damage.
Either way, several people thanked me for making a decision, not only for myself but for them as well.
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