45mph winds are "risking their lives"?
I would guess that flash flooding (or the potential) was the issue? It’s altogether too easy to die that way, esp. at night. We just had a recent case locally, where an entire family (including IIRC 2 young kids) died this way, as a 1st responder watched helplessly from a short distance away. (It was just one guy, on his cell phone to the family, and he could not reach the family’s vehicle as it was swept away. I cannot imagine...)