TIES2
Aug 30th, 2005, 08:13 AM
Last Thursday I was freaking out just thinking about how much I would be freaking out if I still lived in Ft. Lauderdale as where Katrina came ashore would have put our former house directly on the east edge of the eyewall. During the six years we lived there we evacuated many times (mostly over my husband's protestations) but living east of the intercoastal with the ocean 3 blocks in one direction, the intercoastal 3 blocks in the other and the inlet to Port Everglades about five houses away, staying never made sense. I did not ever want to be in the situation where I needed to leave but had no way to do so because the bridge was out, the water was too high, etc. So whether the approaching storm was a Category 1 (Irene) or a Category 5 (Floyd) , with a young child, leaving made the most sense.
Had I lived anywhere along the projected path of Katrina no one would have had to ask me twice to leave. While I understand that many people may not have the means to leave, at a minimum, they should seek shelter in an approved shelter location. It made me insane when I heard the story about the woman with five young children who called 9/11 for rescue or saw the pictures of people sitting on rooftops...apparently their decision to stay was made when the storm was still forecast to make a direct hit on them. Thankfully for them the storm jogged to the east or we would be reading about a woman and five children who perished.
Personally, I think any one who has children who does not heed an evacuation order should be arrested for child abuse. It's one thing to put yourself in harm's way, it's another matter entirely to put a child who can not fend for themself in harms way. I pray that I am never in a situation where I have to put a child into kitchen cabinets or on the roof of the house, bacause I was too stupid to heed an evacuation warning.
Had I lived anywhere along the projected path of Katrina no one would have had to ask me twice to leave. While I understand that many people may not have the means to leave, at a minimum, they should seek shelter in an approved shelter location. It made me insane when I heard the story about the woman with five young children who called 9/11 for rescue or saw the pictures of people sitting on rooftops...apparently their decision to stay was made when the storm was still forecast to make a direct hit on them. Thankfully for them the storm jogged to the east or we would be reading about a woman and five children who perished.
Personally, I think any one who has children who does not heed an evacuation order should be arrested for child abuse. It's one thing to put yourself in harm's way, it's another matter entirely to put a child who can not fend for themself in harms way. I pray that I am never in a situation where I have to put a child into kitchen cabinets or on the roof of the house, bacause I was too stupid to heed an evacuation warning.