refusal to evacuate clearwater/tampa *UPDATE page 1*

[issa]

I have some friends that lives on the bay (inland side) in clearwater. they live in pinellas county on the other side of the long long bridge.

I called them 2 nights ago, ask them if they were ready? One hadnt even heard about the storm and the other said "dont worry ..its not gonna touch us." well..as we all know it is gonna touch them...right over them.

yesterday I called my friend (pat) ..and she had still not gotten supplies as (mike) had said not to worry. At her lunch hour I convinced her to go buy water and supplies.....of course all the water is gone by then..battries are gone..but she did manage to buy some cat food for her kitty. and some munchie snacks. I told her they could come to our house..bring the animals and thier child (he is 8)..and just come here to orlando area. she said she would talk to mike.

I called her again at 5 - she is worried...they gave evacuation notices. Mike is on his way home ...traveling over the bridge BACK INTO pinellis area.

I got ahold of them again at 7 pm.....they are staying..pat is worried but mike is taking it as a big joke. they have a couple of thermos of water..have filled the tub....they have no flashlights..nor battierys for a radio. Mike is lauhing that its just a little wind..nothing to worry about. I have told him of my experiances with hurricanes and that they NEED to go.

I asked them to have a back up plan...they said they were going to play cards if the power went off...

I asked if they knew where the shelter was.....i guess pat pointed down the street "somewhere". I know she is staying there because he is too stubborn and stupid to leave. I dont understand taking the risk....esp with your child. They are gonna bunker down...and I cant help but be angry and worry at the same time.

on the news they just announced they will be closing the bridges...if ther are not out now..there not gonna get out..and emt's are saying if you stay..do not expect emergency help...infact thier qouted as saying "if you stay, your on your own..we're not making suicide missions"


so honestly....this is my frist storm down here... what is it really gonna be like for them..are they gonna be ok? are they lucky if they can walk away from this...BTW...Mike..is permently in a wheelchair and cannot walk nor crawl. so if emergency happens..pat will be the only one to help him...and then who will take care of the child? I wish she was strong enough to leave him there with his stubborness and get her and her child to saftey...but shes not....

so...what are your thoughts?

Update ~~~

as you can imagine, Mike is as smug as can be! and happy as a clam he was so right. I say he was so damn lucky, A cat 4-5 would have devistaed thier area and he would likly be injured or dead...but there he sits and smiles in his self rightousness.

And of course - since hurricanes are no big deal....once it turned towrad orlando and us, he had no thought or concern for us...have a drink and sit back. I am SO GLAD WE prepared!!!

Though pat was terrifed friday morning - it was too late to leave, She has said she learned her lesson and will always evacutate...even if it means leaving mike behind. She realizes what risk she put herself and her child in. I am glad they are safe

 

[chyam]

I'm staying too, I weighed out the options I had, I also have a friend in Orlando and was invited, but after watching the traffic leaving on the bridges I figured the trip would be about 6 hours! Besides I couldn't leave my critters, spoke to neighbors on both sides and behind me and they are also staying. The shelter for me is about 1 mile away, so how much safer can that really be? Not only that but being cooped up with a bunch of screaming kids would probably make me want to kill myself too!! So although I am not right on the coast, I think we all make choices that we think are right for us, it's hard to tell adults what to do. I do know that when it gets bad I will probably be in a closet with my cats, my water and my flashlights! I will say a prayer for your friend and anyone else who chooses to stay home.

 

[Big V]

If I were them, I would be out of there!

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/WTUS82-KTBW.shtml

 

[Serena]

It just not make sense to me to stay. What could they be thinking?

 

[Dan Murphy]

I know people have died doing things like that in past storms, always seem to be those who know best.

 

[Virgo10]

Sorry to be so blunt, but these people are MORONS! If they want to die as adults that's their business - well not really because if things get really bad and they call for help then others have to risk their lives to go try and save them - but they have a child.

It just makes me so angry that after Camille and Andrew people would still think that they're not going to be the ones who get hurt.

Roberta

 

[Laz]

I am very worried about my parents who live in Hernando County, which I believe is about an hour and a half north of Tampa. Although they have not been ordered to evacuate, I know their house is not built for the 90-95 mph winds that are predicted over Spring Hill. They are both in their eighties and have not left. They do not have a computer and did not even know that some in their county were evacuated. I gave them the number of the local emergency management office and told them to call regularly. I pray for all those in the path of Charley.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

While Charley isn't a Category 5 storm, there were many people in south Florida that thought the same as your friends and didn't leave...unfortunately they made a mistake that cost them their lives or the lives of their loved ones, when Andrew hit...

I'm more afaid of the Tornados that a storm like this produces.

I live inland and Category 2 wouldn't make me evacuate, a Category 3 would make me take many more precautions and I would move to a good shelter. If I lived on the coast I would have been gone before they closed any bridges that we would need to use to evacuate. Once at the inland shelter we would either stay and ride out the storm or watch what the storm would do, then be ready to continue moving away or or be ready to go home. Each storm can be so destructive that you never know what one will do...With Charley I have been surprised that the tracking of the storm hasn't changed usually the storms are effected by so many variables and they change back and forth as to were landfall will be...not Charley they zeroed in on the Tampa Bay area and there have been no changes...

Please let us know how your friend do...it many be a few days before you hear from them...you have done all you can do.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Result of hurricane party during Camille back in the 60's

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Originally posted by Laz
I am very worried about my parents who live in Hernando County, which I believe is about an hour and a half north of Tampa. Although they have not been ordered to evacuate, I know their house is not built for the 90-95 mph winds that are predicted over Spring Hill. They are both in their eighties and have not left. They do not have a computer and did not even know that some in their county were evacuated. I gave them the number of the local emergency management office and told them to call regularly. I pray for all those in the path of Charley.

Laz, is there a friend or neighbor that lives close that your parents could stay with...My parents will be coming to either my house or one of my sisters homes this afternoon before the storm arrives...just being in a more structurally secured building should be OK.

Beckie

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Here in NC, when there are people who won't evacuate, the police tell them to write their names, in marker, on their bodies so that they can identify them and notify next of kin.

We've been evacuated from the beach 3 times during vacations. My mom survived Hurricane Hazel and she takes it very seriously. She says she won't go through that ever again.

I hope Mike will come to his senses and protect his family or Pat needs to protect her child and leave him there.

Lori

 

[Cailin'sMom]

We live on the Gulf Coast, and I know that in cases where authorities perceive a strong threat they many times have forced evacuation. However, this is usually only right on the coast an only on Stronger Category storms.
My main concern would be having only one way in or out to my home (bridge) and the length of time that I would be closed off from the rest of the world.

However, even if we stay put during a storm, we stay stocked up on canned foods, bottled water, batteries, candles etc. We also have a gas grill with a cooktop, so that we can cook most things that we need to. I think that he is definitely being moronic by not being more prepared.

I was a small child when Hurricane Frederick hit Mobile, and I remember being without power for almost 2 weeks. A few thermoses of water is not going to carry them very far, especially if they have problems with the water supply, which can happen during hurricanes.

Knowing what it is like to ride out a storm, my prayers are with them.
Sometimes evacuation can be like a crap shoot. A lot of us evacuated during Hurricane Opal, only to find that worse damage occurred inland in places like Auburn or Montgomery, so you never know.

 

[orvilleair]

I've never been through a hurricane, but I can tell you that Hurricane Alex last month flooded a good deal of Okracoke. The storm surge didn't come from the ocean like it usually does, but it came from the other side in the bay(sound). No one died, but many tourist's cars were flooded in up to 7'-0" of water. Depending on the wind direction and other conditions, you would think the bay would do the same thing.

Like you said, it's too late to evacuate, but maybe Mike will know of some shelters to go to.

Thinking of a Ron White bit when he joked about people tying themselves to trees during hurricanes. It's not the wind that you need to worry about. It's the stuff flying in the wind. I guess there are people whom are looking for their "Lieutenant Dan" experience.

 

[treesinger]

Weather Channel just reported that Charley will become a Cat3 pretty soon.

 

[Pongo69]

Storm Stories did a story about Hurricanes last year. I don't recall which hurricane it was, but I do remember this woman crying about a losing her children and friends at their hurricane party due to not evacuating.

I don't think I could live with myself after making such a dumb decision.
Honestly if I were your friend, I'd leave the husband in a heartbeat. I wouldn't put my life or my child's life in danger bacause of what he thinks might not happen.

 

[C.Ann]

As adults, I suppose they can do whatever they choose - even if their choice is a deadly one.. BUT the child should be the first consideration and if they choose to "tough it out" the least they could do is send the child someplace where it is safe..

Sometimes you just have to wonder "What the heck are they thinking???? "

 

[Figment2]

How far from the water are they? If they are far enough away, they may be okay. Hopefully they have either taped or boarded up their windows.

I was in Panama City when Opal hit. We evacuated but I told my friends after the experience, never again. It would have to be a 5 to get me to evacuate.

We headed to Jacksonville which is normally about a 5 hour trip. It took TWELVE hours. I had driven from IL so I had water and snacks in my car (thank God) since there was no where to eat. We were lucky enough to find a gas station (that had gas left) with a rest room along the way. We were in a three car caravan and lost one of the cars. We knew where we were headed so it wasn't a problem but I never want to go through that again.

Since my friends' house is very much inland, they don't have a problem with storm surge (unless it was a category 5, then maybe).

Since then we have had some storms here in the Chicago area which matched the intensity of Opal. Many of us get blase about our weather. Look at how many people here in IL don't even look up when the tornado sirens go off.

What I do not understand is why FL cities don't have tornado sirens. The hurricanes spawn them so how are people supposed to know one is headed their way?

Hope they are okay!

Cyn

 

[Samsara]

Are your friends/family in evacuation zones? We're in Clearwater as well and our home is not located in an exacuation zone. In fact, a large section of central Pinellas County is not in evacuation zones.

To give you an idea, with the evacuation at Level C, 380,000 people in Pinellas are covered. In total, Pinellas County has just shy of 1 million people. So, lots of people don't go anywhere and ride out the storms here. Even if the evacuation went to Level E, the highest, lots of people would not be covered.

 

[piglet too]

My Grandparents, as well as my aunt and uncle, live in Spring Hill. I do not know if they have had to leave or not, need to call my Dad and see if he knows anything. I hope your friends, and everyone else in that region, are going to be OK.

 

[twocat]

Here is a link to the hurricane evacuation areas by county. Select your county and you can see the evacuation level for the area your interested in. You can click on it to enlarge it and the legend is located at the top. My dad is in a level 3 area in Oldsmar off Tampa Road. A friend of his and my uncle were in a level 2 and were ordered to evacuate so they are now bunking down at my dad's. Hope this helps to allay some fears. I'm still worried though.

http://www.baynews9.com/Hurricane.html