Somehow, if I lived anywhere in the vicinity of central and south florida, I'd find a way to go visit someone or stay at a hotel for a day or so up in Georgia until it was safe to come home...Not to be cynical, but perhaps these are some of the same folks who couldn't punch a ballot in 2000? I admit I grew VERY cynical of Floridians and their brain power during the election, but do care for those who couldn't physically make it out...
All right, you insensitive ghoul! The morons who couldn't punch the voting cards correctly in 2000 were elderly Democrats who live on the southest coast of Florida. The DEAD PEOPLE over here in SW Florida are my friends and neighbors! They were old and scared and possibly felt they had nowhere to go. You can't ask them why because they're DEAD. Congratulations! You're the first Freeper I've ever told to go to hell. Have a nice trip, dirtbag!
Your compassion just oozes through your post. /sarcasm
There are a lot of reasons people don't leave. Some have already been mentioned on this thread - lack of transportation, being elderly and not wanting to abandon everything you have or not feeling able to do so, not paying attention, having pets you can't take to a shelter, and no money for travel or a hotel....
Personally, I wouldn't try to ride one out in a mobile home, but between packing and the traffic, evacuation is a royal pain even if you are young, and it's often a danger in itself. In Georgia, more people died in traffic accidents during the mandatory evacuation from Floyd than died from the storm itself, because the storm ended up not striking here at all.
If you watch now, there are a lot of people on barrier islands and Fort Myers Beach who aren't being allowed back to their houses, and may not be until Monday or afterwards. Meanwhile, roofs are damaged, more rain is coming, and some things could be salvaged if someone was there to do it. Some people feel that if they stay close by, at least they have a chance of salvaging some things.
You may consider yourself a born again Christian. You are not.
Some people are really stubborn and won't leave. Then you have those who've had to evacuate for other storms then nothing happened. So they are reluctant to go the next time they're told. It makes no sense to me for anyone in a mh or on the coast to stay.
At this point 42.6% of registed voters in FL are Dems. That ought to tell you something. There is always such low voter turnout that it's pathetic, if the majority doesn't vote the minority wins.