But that's not the point. Evacuation is a matter of safety. That is, it could be the difference between life and death.
To help the more stubborn arrive at a fully informed decision, I've created an Evacuation Decision Matrix. Please click on it for a closer view.
Feel free to print it out for easy reference if you need to. For those wanting a more detailed comparison, check out this story from The Galveston County Daily News. They say experience is the best teacher. In the case of hurricanes, it's even better if you can learn from the experience of others.
4 comments:
Great points Tim. My biggest problem is this: Evacuation is not about you. It's about persons having to put their lives in danger to save your stubborn ass. I don't mind my tax money going to put you up in a hotel, but I shouldn't have to pay rescue workers who are risking their lives to save a law-breaker. Just so you can have a cool story to tell.
Good post. I totally agree. My evac for Gustav was tedious and took way longer than normal but I would do the same thing again.
I agree with howie luvzus. The levee system is o.k. to protect property, but it was never set up to protect your life.
Not only that, but there is tremendous discomfort associated with staying too. Besides the fright of the high winds and debris flying around, it's miserable to be without power, water, etc. for days.
The matrix is basically correct, with the exception of not including the cost factors involved.
While I agree with Howie in principle, it would be interesting to compare the average cost for evacuation for all who leave against the total costs associated with rescue operations; I'm suspecting it'll be half-a-dozen to one, six to the other. But given that voluntary evacuees complying with the mandatory mandate aren't being reimbursed, it's a moot point (your tax dollars win as things now stand and the "good citizens" get to pick up the tab individually).
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