Posted on 08/14/2004 1:42:49 AM PDT by kattracks
of course, the rescue efforts and recovery of power and water are #1.
but citizens elect these people, pay taxes, and they want to have some sense that they are connected to what is happening.
President Bush should certainly give it a few days, but at some point, it would be foolish and political suicide not to go.
Actually I think there are a lot of reasons that older people don't evacuate. Some people mentioned pets ... but a lot of old people have no family, sometimes they are mentally impaired or have health issues.
It seems to me they should do that --- it wouldn't have to be all that big of a building because probably many do leave for safer places --- but for those who want to tough it out, there should be something.
"Unbelievably neither of them even so much as tinkled in the house, though by the time I opened the door to see if it was safe to let them out, their eyes were floating."
Awwww, glad to read your pets made it okay. Poor babies really made the effort not to potty in the home.
Good for you :)
It was a resident of the town.
Which is why Governor Bush is heading to the area today and I'm sure will be making many visits over the next few weeks to check on the citizens on his state.
If President Bush comes down, it should not be until disaster recovery is well underway when stopping EVERYTHING for a presidential visit will not be a problem as it would be for the next few weeks.
"Speaking of adrenaline jinkies.. How did Darwin Award Candidate NEWSBOY TODD make out. Last I heard his Van was being pelted with debris and he was watching the Holiday come apart in front of him, then his cell phone went out."
I have no idea .
You know, I had not thought of this til I read your post.
It would be a difficult thing for some folks to take off for an extended period of time. Maybe some folks stay just because they literally don't have the money to go anywhere else. Especially if these were elderly and living in a mh park. They weren't living in a gated community which would give the impression of having the financial capability to pick up and get out.
Granted there are always shelters available but you also have those 'old salties' in hurricane zones who will say "I've evacuated plenty of times and nothing happened so I'm staying put" and they will stay just because their own experience has convinced them it was a waste of time to leave.
It's very sad news indeed.
I was in Beaufort SC when Hugo went through. Scared me to death!
BY CHARLES RABIN, DARRAN SIMON AND AMY DRISCOLL
FORT MYERS
In Punta Gorda, a city of 15,000 where early reports indicated some of the worst damage, retiree Dalila Eljaua rode out the storm closeted in a bathroom with her two dogs as pieces of her roof flew off.
''It's true what they say: You've never heard that sound; you just are praying that it goes away, and every time it would slow down, it comes right back up,'' said Eljaua, who moved to Punta Gorda from Cooper City a month ago. 'You're thinking, `Oh God, when does this end?' ''
I've told my husband if my dogs had an accident in the house, the last thing we could do is get mad at them.
From being locked up for hours during storm to one time when hubby and I broke down on the turnpike heading home. We had planned on only being gone for 8-9 hours, instead it was almost 18 before we got home. We'd just moved to the area, didn't know our neighbors and had nobody to call to let them outside. I came home expecting a mess but they did nothing, not a drop.
I figure if an accident happens, they owe us....
One thing I learned about living in S. Florida. A person living in a mobile home park does not always mean they are low-income. Some of these parks go for a hefty amount of money.
We looked at a mobile home in Key Largo, $275k for a mobile home - and no, we didn't buy it...
Those are interesting stories. Every hurricane has different dynamics and the tornadoes embedded in Celia could have easily caused those gusts. The guy who measured the 161 (before the thing broke) also measured 28.64 inches or 964 mb which was not the worst of the storm (945 mb).
**Politicos can provide a bureaucratic kick in the ass to whatever state agency is needing motivation.**
I don't think anyone down that way is being complacent right now. After Andrew, "Walkin' Lawton" Chiles sat on his behind saying "shucky darn" until a woman in local government asked "where the Hell is the cavalry?" Now THAT was complacency. The locals in SW Fla appear to be asking for, and receiving, state and federal assistance fairly rapidly.
They were told to evacuate....they said "we're not going anywhere". I heard one of the residents defiantly saying that yesterday.
*We looked at a mobile home in Key Largo, $275k for a mobile home - and no, we didn't buy it...*
must have been a single-wide on a dry lot......
because up until 3-4 hours before landfall, the focus was all on the Tampa Bay area. I'm not faulting the forecasters, these things are unpredicatable, but there wasn't alot of pointed emphasis that a cat 4 was coming up charlotte harbor for a direct hit.
Well I'm sure it is terrible down there .. not like a war zone .. but from what I'm seeing in TV, it's pretty bad
"I've told my husband if my dogs had an accident in the house, the last thing we could do is get mad at them."
Exactly, how on earth could pets help themselves. I've seen toilet trained cats but never dogs. This year during our vacation my brother inlaw was our pet sitter but still he was gone all day at work. Our little dog escaped from his penned area made messes in the basement. We didn't get mad, I got the mop bucket and pinesol and cleaned it up. No big deal.
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