Your points are well taken during fair weather, but in an approaching Cat 5, have little relevance, IMO.
During a mandatory evacuation it’s the responsibility of the individual, their families, and the LOCAL AUTHORITIES to have a PLAN to help evacuate the poor, elderly, disabled ahead of the storm.
NOBODY should attempt shelter in place, REGARDLES of the type of structure. Both strong & flimsy structures can collapse & any structure can flood.
In New Orleans, homes survived but people drowned in their attics.
And maybe I wasn’t clear enough in my original statement. I’m not faulting any of these people for being poor or not being able to build a home that can withstand any storm, let alone a Cat 5 storm that was, for all intent, stalled over the island.
They should have been helped, just as the people in Puerto Rico should have been helped and the folks in New Orleans. But, interestingly, in the latter 2, after the dust started to settle, instead of it all being the Presidents(at the time) fault, we soon learned of all the corruption, theft and indifference by officials in both places that left their people struggling. I’m not saying the Bahamian government is to blame for anything. But I’d rather things calm down a bit, get to cleaning up and sorting things out.
My issues are stories like this one. Absolutely horrible situation. But, not as bad as the guy that watched his 5yr old get swept out to sea, basically. I see this article and some other reporting I’ve read as another attempt to make the US and the President look bad.
Just the other day some guy from Florida spent about $50k of his own money to buy generators to send to the island. Tyler Perry sends a plane with supplies and takes those that need medical attention off the island. And I think that’s awesome.
I’m quite sure that there is a substantial amount of aid headed there, from the US, even if its just sending the USS Comfort or Mercy there to help with medical issues. I would have absolutely no problem with that, in fact I hope that both ships are on the way.
What I don’t see is, a hospital ship from China, Russia or the EU. I don’t see the Saudi’s, Emirati’s or anyone else sending a fleet of ships and planes to assist. Maybe they are. I’m in Iraq, so I get to the news when I can.