I fear greater loss of life this time...

[jude]

[quote="sharpenu"]What infuriates me is that it may be a personal choice, but just who do you think has to come and save these people when they decide they are scared or injured? To cause loss of life to others because of your own choice is wrong and selfish.[/quote]

Well said.
I have many family members serving as First Responders.
It is never a 'personal choice'. Emergency Service Personnel will be forced to put ther own live son the line, forced to suffer injuries and see things they hoped they never would have to see in support of those 'personal choices'.

And it 's a damn selfish, irresponsible, abusive personal choice if someone is chosing to keep their children in harm's way.

-Jude

[THead]

Jude, but they chose their profession. They weren't drafted to do that type of work. I mean come on, so is drunk driving a personal choice, plenty of horrors from that too. Face it, a large part of their jobs are to respond to peoples poor personal choices.

[jude]

So, the red neck who tonight sucks down a six pack , rolls out on the road and gets bucked off a bridge by Jeanne is a First Responder's Hat Trick.
Puh.

[MGC]

This is a typical human responce to surviving a hurricane. "The last one was not a bad a expected, so I ride this one out" I wonder how many people on the Mississippi Coast though that prior to Camille? Survive a hurricane and you think you are bullet proof......MGC

[soonertwister]

I wonder if there are any "I Survived Frances" t-shirts out there.

I'm afraid that some people are likely to 1 out of 2 after Hurricane Jeanne.

[FlaCrabhead]

Choosing to stay is a means of CONTROL. Floridians are tired of having NO control over their lives these past few hurricanes. They are told when to go and how, but not many know "where" because the "where" isn't determined until it's almost too late. Who wants to be stranded on the highway when it hits? How far do you drive before you're safe?

Look at the people in Tampa that evacuated to Orlando when we kept hearing Charley was going to hit Tampa. All those people who went to Orlando got it worse than if they just stayed home. And Tampa said they barely got any rain when Charley came in!

As I said before, psychologically speaking, it's their way of controlling their lives, the situation they are in. They are making the choice. Most feel it would be better to at least have the familiarity of their home than stay in a strange place for God knows how long. Besides the fact that most think "it'll never happen to me" when they decide to stay anyway.

I fear for them, but I just have to pray that God keeps them safe. As for being rescued, I don't think they should be and their choice to stay should not put others lives in danger..."You stay, you pay."

[yzerfan]

I've seen Hurricane Ivan shirts here already, done in the spirit of blowing a raspberry of the weather deities.

There are a lot of people here who live relatively high and inland in relatively sturdy houses. The Opal evacuation was a nightmare that could have had mass fatalities in central Alabama. There are limited roads in and out of the area, and you just can't get everyone out of the county without about 5 days lead time. I-65 turned into a parking lot while Opal was coming ashore. Stories abound of people getting stuck on 65, trees going down all around them and tornados going overhead while people were stuck in their cars. Because of changes that were made in FL law eight weeks before hurricane season started, there are a grand total of two public shelters for a county of 180,000 people.

The county policy for people who don't live on barrier islands, in low lying flood prone areas, or in trailers is to encourage 'shelter in place'. If your house isn't brick, go to a friend's house that is.

[KayFL]

Staying is not a matter of choice for some. Some have exausted their money and would be worse off sitting in their car. Others don't know where to go. It could still go into south Florida and will probably go into Georgia. I don't think it is a case of control or stupidity.

I am taking a meterology class at the college this term and my professor said there is a syndrome very much like shell shock or post tramatic stress syndrome. He calls it H3S - I can't remember exactly what the 3rd S is but it is hurricane stress syndrome. People just can't think as clear as usual and really are not in control of their choices. It is sad.

There was an old man that lives on a houseboat on the east coast of Florida that was interviewed by Tampa's Fox station. This old man says he will not leave even though many destroyed boats are nearby. He is old and frustrated and just can't accept this is happening again.

And the peak of the Gulf season isn't here yet.
Kay near Tampa Bay

[Ivanova]

I've heard the major news media repeat over
and over how people did not show up at
the shelters... they say these people are
hurricane weary and don't want to leave their
homes... methinks there is another reason why
many people did not show up at the shelters.


*

[SootyTern]

Yeah, people are definetly tired of constantly dealing with yet another hurricane. I wonder why shelters can't accept pets in carriers where they will not get out and bother other people-I have heard of quite a few people that decided to stay in dangerous situations because of their pets. You may as well ask somebody to leave thier child behind. This should be addressed.