Why people don't evacuate

[Andy J]

Hurricane Gustav was much milder than expected. As it turns out the complete evacuation of New Orleans wasn't necessary. So, can the people come home now? Well ... no. The Chocolate City, mayor, Ray Nagin, is STILL TELLING the people to stay away. OK ... so what happens with the next threat? People will remember that they evacuated when told to do so. They will also remember that they were prevented from returning to their property when the threat didn't materialize. So ... next time they stay put. Governments in all hurricane-prone areas need to realize that one of the primary reasons residents resist evacuation is the expectation that they're going to run into roadblocks when they try to return again.

[pmcn]

I heard on the new yesterday around 4 pm est that Nagin recended his order of no returns until after midnight. I guess he wants to be elected again and realized he was angering his base. What's going to happen if the sanitary systems are not ready for 200,000 flushing toilets?

Evacuations are cyclical. A few years ago, Jacksonville evacuated only to have the storm go elsewhere. Will they again evacuate? Who knows. My feeling is if you choose to stay, you do so at your own risk. Why should first responders risk their lives to save yours because of a bad decision? On the other hand, before people return to the effected area, basic services must be up and running or you'll have other problems. People who do evacuate need to realize that you can't have everything you want right here and right now (a persistant problem with our culture).

Paul

[rpicardi1]

Last time around, people weren't allowed to take their pets. They were also offered local shelter that was anything but safe.

Few people are going to be willing to abandon pets to their fate for an unknown period of time. Therefore, it's about time that disaster planners made arrangements to include pets in their evacuation - something that was done this time around.

Something that the public doesn't realize is how close the levies were to being topped. A slightly stronger storm or a slight shift to the North and New Orleans would now be underwater.

[kevarc]

First off - Mayor Noguts is an idiot. Our Gov told him what was going to happen and this is the idiots way of trying to stay important.

People stay and all hell breaks loose and they want rescued. This puts a lot of people at risk for stupid people to get out. The policy now is once winds reach a certain speed, depends on the area, you are stuck until the winds die down. Why risk it?

As PAul stated, the local officials want people to stay away as long as possible after a storm. This will enable roads to be cleared and power restored. If you return before, you do so with the warning that services will NOT be provided. You may not have water, sewer, and electricity. YOu may not even be able to get to your house.

The public works crews first goal after a is get the main street/roads/highways open. Then they work their way back into the country and subdivisions.

Water and sewer problems are lack of electricity. While many do have generators, they still have problems. Their generator may not work (happened in more than one locality for Gustav), the generator may not be large enough to completely run the plant, or the water/sewer plant is damaged. This has to be fixed so that safe water can be distributed to the people.

Electricity - There is nothing worse for a line crew than - backfeed from a generator - this KILLS. Most people do NOT know how to hook one up correctly and backfeed the line. - idiots bugging the hell out of crews with "When is my power coming on," or "The people accross the street have it , why not me?", or just plain harrassment. I know of more than one street in subdivisions that did not get their power before the other streets in it because of one person abusing line crews. And the line crews let the others on that street know why they were last. I never lost power, by my cousin next door did. He was still tied into the old SLEMCO lines while mine is on the newer LUS main feeder. The newer, less than 20 years old, houses are on the LUS line while the older ones are not.

You also have the nesting instinct. People want to be in their house. For an homeowner, this is a huge investment of time and money and you want to know if it is stilll there.

Will this effect future evacs? Probably so. But the local officials will let it be known that you stay at your own risk.

[kevarc]

Last time around, people weren't allowed to take their pets. They were also offered local shelter that was anything but safe.

Few people are going to be willing to abandon pets to their fate for an unknown period of time. Therefore, it's about time that disaster planners made arrangements to include pets in their evacuation - something that was done this time around.

Something that the public doesn't realize is how close the levies were to being topped. A slightly stronger storm or a slight shift to the North and New Orleans would now be underwater.

The pets were a big deal and I was glad that they figured a way to fix it.

Actually the only levee that was topped was the industrial canal levee. There were 6" of water in some low laying areas. There were also a few spot problems of water trying to come underneath. But this is a common problem with any levee system.

People need to quit watching the national cable and network news. And the Weather Channel can be just as bad. These idiots only want things that they can make sensational news over, whether or not it it correct. Most of the local news, KATC here in Lafayette, stream it online. That will give you the TRUE picture of what is going on.

[pmcn]

Electricity - There is nothing worse for a line crew than - backfeed from a generator - this KILLS. Most people do NOT know how to hook one up correctly and backfeed the line.

How very very true that statement is. You can not understate the need to prevent backfeed yet somehow it happens far too much.

Paul