Posted on 08/31/2005 4:33:18 PM PDT by SmithL
Biloxi -- When Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast, authorities were emphatic about their evacuation orders: Leave now, they said, this is one deadly storm.
But many residents stayed behind, and that is a big reason the death toll is so high.
Residents gave a range of reasons for making the life-and-death decision to stay, with many saying they were tired of evacuating from hurricanes after two recent storms that didn't live up to their threat. Some were worried about getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, leaving possessions behind, or running out of money on the road. Some simply discounted the threat.
"They said it was mandatory. But they did that last time," Pascagoula resident Wayne Mitchell said Wednesday. "The thinking was, they were crying wolf.
"Well, this was the real wolf for sure," said the concrete-pouring business employee, who lost all his furniture, including a big-screen TV, when Katrina's storm surge swept through his home.
"I didn't think it was going to be that bad," said a stunned Landon Williams, a 19-year-old construction worker who had lived in Biloxi for less than two months. He lived in Quiet Water Beach apartments, where dozens of residents were feared dead and all that remained was a mountain of debris.
Last September, after seeing Florida pounded by three hurricanes, residents reacted to the approach of Hurricane Ivan. Some 400,000 drivers swarmed through Mississippi from Gulf Coast areas as they fled Ivan, clogging major highways in hours-long jams before Ivan hit to the east, causing little damage in Mississippi.
When Hurricane Dennis threatened last month, there were more jams, but authorities noted at the time that the number of evacuees appeared to drop off. Again, Mississippi and Louisiana were spared the brunt.
"I worry that we had a little hurricane fatigue,"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Interesting,,,,,rather than sit in bumper to bumper traffic to get to safety, I chose to risk my life and the lives of my family by staying behind to ride out a MAJOR HURRICANE, interesting thought process.
What's the point about the TV, I wonder? If he had insurance, it will be replaced. If he didn't, he should have spent the TV money on insurance :-).
Anyone with have a brain could see on tv that Katrina was a monster. Anyone able to leave but who chose not to was/is a fool.
Oil Storm aired on FX June 5th @ 8pm. It's a story about a CAT 6 hurricane wiping out New Orleans.
They didn't have fatigue over Dennis. We were heading home from vacation and drove (very rapidly) through there last month with Dennis biting our back tires. Some areas were starting to flood but there was zero traffic. They didn't heed the warnings then, why should they this time.
There is no Category 6.
We will see how many paid with their lives for not heeding the warnings. Up here in the North East we get blizzard warnings and some people do not pay any attention because the media has a habit of sensationalizing the tiniest snowflake, as a result a lot of people find themselves stranded on the highways because they weren't smart enough to heed the warning and most importantly not smart enough to look out the window and judge how fast the snow is coming down. People have to pay attention no matter how many times they've heard the warnings. I would think a life is more important than ignoring warnings.
But if there were, it would be pretty bad - no?
Oh, that's for sure. Of course, as night began to fall, before it hit, I saw the 3 lanes or so bumper to bumper and thought that those who waited too long were like sitting ducks on the I-10, like a scene out of that asteroid movie, Apocalypse.
I took the back roads out and got out of Ms fast. For some reason nobody takes the back roads. I jumped on 15 near the Keesler exit, and then 29 took me to 59 to Laurel, and it was more smooth sailing from there. This was all Sunday, the back roads were completely clear.
I've noticed that people tend to ignore the back roads also. The interstate near us is being repaired (again) and we just hop on those back roads and watch them all as they poke along. Plus you can end up with some pretty nice scenery.
Yeah Ms looks like it was nuked on the beach to half a mile in. It sucks bad. I heard my house is still around, for the most part. I hope the looters stay clear of it.
Oh, my. I saw photos, looked like it was bombed. Just flattened. You are lucky if your house is still around, even in pieces. Are you within that 1/2 mile or so inland? That seemed to be most devastated. Keep us posted.
I think all the hot air coming from Cindy Sheehan could form into a CVat 6, if harnessed all at once.
YET.
You don't understand. Anyone knows that 19 year-old construction workers know more about hurricanes than trained veteran meteorologists. Besides, those traffic jams are such a hassle. Really cut into your drinkin' time.
It should always be remembered that the average IQ of Americans is only 100, even. The average IQ of poor Americans, is about 85. That's not very bright.
I'm about 2 miles from the beach.
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