STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

ILoveChoo · Hermes

Hurricane Rita Tangent...

jj · Kate Spade

I *think* it's because:

- people don't want to leave all their possessions behind, if they evacuated, it could be days before they could return, they could be worried about looters

- people are dumb and think they are invincible, or they could think the media is exaggerating the strength of the storm

- people don't have the money or resources to get out of town --like Chris Rock said, not everyone can pile into an SUV, pay for gas and spend several nights in a hotel

blubirde · Chanel

I can attempt to answer this because my mom and extended family are staying in Houston. My aunt lives to the east of Houston and my mom lives Northwest. Basically they're far enough inland that I *think* there won't be too many problems.

However, I asked my mom and my aunt to just come visit me for the weekend (I live in Austin). They both said no because they want to be at home in case something happens to their house. For instance, if the roof blows off my parent's house, my mom wants to be there to cover everything with plastic tarps so it doesn't get wet.

Basically I think everyone thinks they'd rather be there and have some semblance of control over the situation (although they really don't) than leave and be completely helpless. I personally don't give a rat's ass if the roof blows off their house. I just don't want them to be blown away with it.

But think about it, the odds are with you that nothing will happen to you. It's against all odds that you'll die in a hurricane or in the aftermath of one. Obviously Katrina proved to people that it can still happen but what are the odds of it happening twice? (I'm not agreeing with that point of view - just spelling it out.)

In retrospect the people are dumb. In present view, they're just doing what they've always done and it's worked out for them. It sucks.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

jj wrote:

I *think* it's because: - people don't want to leave all their possessions behind, if they evacuated, it could be days before they could return, they could be worried about looters - people are dumb and think they are invincible, or they could think the media is exaggerating the strength of the storm - people don't have the money or resources to get out of town --like Chris Rock said, not everyone can pile into an SUV, pay for gas and spend several nights in a hotel

ok, I get 3. But it seems like plenty of people with the means to leave aren't...and they could easily pack up anything of real value and bring it with them, no? So no real excuse for number 1... Maybe I just don't get it.

jj · Kate Spade

ok, I get 3. But it seems like plenty of people with the means to leave aren't...and they could easily pack up anything of real value and bring it with them, no? So no real excuse for number 1... Maybe I just don't get it.

I agree, just letting you know what could be going through their minds.

laken1 · Hermes

So in a 24 hour period, how exactly would you go about taking possessions of real value from your home? If your roof blows off & you have rain pouring in, literally everything would be ruined. Not to mention that you have to understand - in an evacuation situation, it is pretty last minute & it takes literally hours (like 9 to 10) to go 50 or 60 miles on the interstate.

Hurricanes turn very quickly - I can't even recall the number of times that a hurricane was "supposed" to hit a certain area then it turns & if you had evacuated - with all of your possessions, it is kind of silly when you are only slightly hit & out of lights for a few hours - as opposed to the nightmare that occurred in New Orleans or Biloxi. And even "not poor" people can't afford to pack up all of their belongings to go ?where? just in case it's bad. Katrina is a perfect example - NO was evacuated, but Biloxi / Gulfport / Waveland were not & they got hit more directly because it turned.

I agree that some of it is just stupidity, people think nothing bad will happen in their area, but people that live in higher risk areas hear the same thing dozens of times every single year. Rita is the 18th storm this season so it's not realistic to think that every time a warning comes that you pack up all of your crap, take time off work, go through the expense, etc.

Of course, this is coming from my perspective where I have always lived 40-50 miles from a landfall area, so in that case, you do get hit & have damage, but it's not severe enough to leave - people evacuate to that area most of the time thinking that it's not that big of a deal to be without electricity for a few days.

ETA: I don't disagree that you should evacuate if you are being warned, just giving a different perspective. If I was on the coast of Texas, I'd be gone. Currently ALL hotel rooms (and that's a bunch, can i tell you) in Dallas are sold out & even I am going to buy some extra water/ can food, etc in case we are without electricity, which they are warning is possible but i'm not really concerned since we are obviously very far away from a coast of any kind.

-- Edited by laken1 at 14:38, 2005-09-22

lsubatgirl · Gucci

ILoveChoo- Mainly people do not evacuate because they underestimate hurricanes. At work there were many people saying that they were going to stay in Houston with Rita as a Cat 5 because they are not from the south and just don't understand. They see where the eye hits and think thats all that matters. Some people equate it to a snow storm and want to just get in their basement (yeah right in TX) and ride it out while others think sandbags will save them. Its just a lot of people not understanding the situation.

kahluamilk · Dooney & Bourke

Hi guys, just wanted to let u know I'm in Houston and STAYING. Reason being the roadways to leave are JAMMED PACKED and if u really hadn't left by Wed morn, it's too late. Don't forget Houston has almost 2 million and at least half r trying to get out.

Here's some random info so u can understand what's going on. On a regular day, it takes 4 hrs to get from Houston to Dallas. And one full tank of gas. As of yesterday afternoon, you couldn't even get from yr neighbour to the freeway in less than 2 hrs.. There are stories of people going 15 miles in 2 hrs!!! So u can see being at a total standstill, there's no way of getting anywhere, not on a tank of gas. People are running out of gas and so r the gas stations. So if u're stuck on the freeway, u're pretty much stranded, along with thousands of others!!! ALL trying to get gas...

So we're decided to stay. Hopefully things won't be too bad... All u Houston girls, take care!!!

laken1 · Hermes

Kahluamilk - girl, stay safe! Trust me, the traffic here in Dallas was AWFUL yesterday & i had heard about the ridiculously long travel times from Houston (12 hours???) - plus the 4:00 news reported that every hotel room here was sold out so they were telling people to keep driving to Oklahoma (=more driving time + gas money if you could find it). They had estimated that there were 1.5 million ADDITIONAL drivers on the road toward Dallas yesterday - what a nightmare!

Check in with us & let us know that you are ok.

JoceyBaby23 · Gucci

One of my good friends, D, has family (parents and sis) that live in Houston and they WILL NOT leave. Here is there story/reasoning..

D's brother in law is an EMT, paramedic (emergency worker). He HAS to stay, wait out the storm and then try to help, rescue as many people as possible after Rita.

Therefore, her sister wont leave. Understandably, she doesnt want to leave her husband.

And because her sister wont leave, her parents dont want to leave her sister. So they are now staying too.

I think her grandparents are elderly and they would rely on D's parents to take them somewhere safe. Since D's parents are staying, the grandparents are staying too.

It is a vicious cycle! D actually wanted to fly down there to be with them. But we talked her out of that.