Posted on 09/14/2018 12:34:48 PM PDT by Libloather
**SNIP**
With my collaborators MarYam Hamedani, Hazel Markus, Hilary Bergsieker and Liyam Eloul, I conducted a psychological study of Hurricane Katrina survivors and relief workers, as well as Americans who watched the disaster from afar. We found that outside observers — and even the relief workers providing aid — viewed those who evacuated as “self-reliant” and “hard-working,” while they denigrated those who stayed behind, calling them “lazy,” “negligent” and “stubborn.”
These characterizations, rooted in pervasive American attitudes of independence, presume everyone in harm’s way has a clear ability to leave when, in reality, many lack reliable transportation or the money for gas and a hotel room.
**SNIP**
While it’s virtually impossible to untangle what precise percentage of residents stay because of material reasons as opposed to cultural ones, in our study the average annual income of people who stayed was only $19,500, and only 54 percent of “stayers” had a car, compared to 100 percent of those who left.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Whether your actual life is that threatened depends on a great many factors, not merely are you in the area.
How far from shore are you?
How is the building you are in constructed?
What is your elevation, and what is the elevation of the surrounding area?
Are there tall objects that are heavy enough to damage your builing if they fall?
Is there adequate labor to remove flammable debris fter the storm passes in a timely manner?
I have lived through a whole lot of hurricanes and typhoons.
Including being out of doors much of the time during one in my Marine Corps days.
Generally though if you are more than thirty five miles inland when they hit they are much reduced, and that is close enough that you commute to work if your employment is near the shore and you live on the mainland.
I am a Katrina survivor.
Here are the reasons that I became such:
1. I owned no vehicle at all.
2. I do not have any family member alive to count on.
3. The friends I knew were all families, and their vehicles were full up.
4. At the moment that the decision to leave town was broadcast over radio and TV airwaves, both Amtrak and Greyhound stopped operations to and from New Orleans.
4. At the same time, the two city bus lines that connected Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish, which connected Metairie and New Orleans, ceased operation, so I could not get to my place of employment, the V.A. Medical Center New Orleans.
I had the money to go, but had no means to go. I ended up in middle Louisiana, after a month-plus stay in a guarded camp of other Katrina survivors, and have no intention of going back to New Orleans. I live “uphill, on the top of a hill, in the top floor.”
I know for some of the folks that live in my subdivision that flooded during Harvey, it was too late to leave (could not get out of the area as it was surrounded by water for 5 days) and the fear of looters.
And they even caught a few of the looters out here where I live, one was caught by the police, one was caught by some neighbors. The guy that was caught by the neighbors must have fallen down a few times.
The news media hypes hurricanes. Flo was a prefect example, a cat 1 hyped into a death to all that stayed. No one believes the media any longer. We make up our own minds now.
NYC. A fantasy within a reality.
I am positive that man has does well in life since Hurricane Katrina. You can tell he has his priorities straight and is a rational thinker when the going gets tough.
Executed? Takes too long, arrest and trial and all.
Shoot them, on sight, while they are on the property.
WoW. You really got sucked in by that crap didn’t you?
“While living in Texas back in the day, I heard about these ‘hurricane parties’. Go to the top of the tallest building on the coast and have a blast. Only in Texas?”
Not confined to Texas. I believe there was one such party on the Mississippi coast for Camille in 1969 and it didn’t go so well. I saw the foundation rubble.
I’ve been to several hurricane parties, but we were well inland. Held in downtown bars. People brought potluck food, coolers filled with ice and oil lamps for the inevitable power failure. Live accoustic guitar music for the same reason. Last one I went to was Fran in the mid-90’s, which turned out to be a bit more than we bargained for. Water started running down the street, got deeper. Wind really kicked up and stayed there, driving that water against the front door of the bar, and then it started running into the bar itself, flooding the floor with about a foot of water. The drive home was interesting, even in a 4wd Tacoma. We were young and stupid, and it was fun, what can I say. Yes there were risks. There are risks sitting fearfully in your house, too. There is no such thing as a risk-free environment, storm or no storm.
And some people simply like taking chances and doing high risk things - even sometimes stupid things.
Personally, we did more than stay during one storm in my adventurous youth. We actually travelled to it. Heard a bar advertise free drinks thru the night of the storm to all who wanted a place to ride it out. Wouldn’t repeat it today being responsible for more than myself but it was a fun experience.
So you never know what it is that is going to cause the real danger after the storm hits.
Always easier to come back & pick up the pieces than it is to sustain an injury or death.
Older trees and diseased trees fall.
We live in a fallen world, but adding fear to it isn't conducive to living a good life. There is an extent of precaution which goes beyond reasonable, and denigrating others for not going that far (which is the purpose of this thread) is just disgusting.
From 45 years at the Jersey shore every single storm has been over-hyped...except Sandy. Moved before that one but had other family ride it out. Never once evacuated.
Whatever. In tornado alley it’s wise to have an underground shelter you can seek refuge in. Even if one survives a huge storm the aftermath can sometimes be even worse. I wasn’t denigrating anyone. I was remarking that he was more concerned with looting. Material things are not, in my opinion, worth risking life & limb over.
Sucked into what exactly?
Doesn’t matter, if it was fake news or not, people still saw that crap reporting and possibly stay behind to be “heroes” as well. Who knows, people are crazy these days.
Not at all.
Post 2, post 8, post 11...
A steel bathtub is often enough. Affordable above ground shelters are a relatively recent development, and high water tables make underground shelters impractical in many areas such as Tulsa (where I grew up) while other areas are blessed with bedrock that reaches the surface (such as the Osage hills west of lake Keystone) also rendering underground shelters impractical.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.