Before you ask why #HurricaneMilton victims didn’t evacuate despite warnings of an approaching storm, please consider that many folks don’t have cars, have no family or friends to stay with, can’t afford gasoline or hotels, don’t dare risk losing their jobs if they can’t return in time, can’t safely evacuate their elderly loved ones, won’t leave without their pets, or have legitimate health concerns about staying in shelters. Poor shaming them during and after a catastrophe is not a good look.
Yes, I have evacuated from #NC before #HurricaneFlorence in 2018 with our two dogs. We drove north and stayed with family in #NH. It would be 10 days before we could return home, the last hundred miles a nightmare of detours due to roads covered with fallen trees. We were fortunate to have the resources to evacuate, to have a place to ride out the storm in comfort, and to be able to watch our home with our network of security cameras. Even with all that, it was a very stressful experience.
Please spare a care for the thousands of folks facing the prospect of #evacuation WITHOUT the resources that we had. In addition to posing financial and logistical challenges that may seem insurmountable, evacuation takes a huge emotional toll. We’re “wired” to protect our home and hearth, to stand our ground, and to show rugged individuality and resilience. Being told to ditch all that and leave for an unknown future is NOT EASY.
@cassandra17lina Knowing you’ll have to replace everything and you can’t count in your state government to do anything to help you doesn’t make it any easier. I’m no longer in a position to replace all that I have and my renters insurance won’t do it for me. The deductible that I have to have in order to afford it makes it cost prohibitive.
I’m fortunate to have family that would help, not everyone has that.
@cassandra17lina Having worked floods for the red cross it is also hard to see someone in their living room trying to ignore they are waist deep in water and dont want to go to a shelter they say" I am fine" been there seen that