The psychology of evacuation is complicated

[Pacifist Patriot]

I don't know where to begin.

I live in Brevard County, Florida. My son had a soccer tournament in Tampa this coming weekend so we already had a hotel room Friday and Saturday night. Yesterday evening my husband arranged for us to add tomorrow night to our reservation.

Our team has withdrawn from the tournament for understandable reasons, but we're still heading west because the thought of riding out a category 3 or 4 hurricane is unthinkable. I've been through cat 1 and 2 hurricanes before and while some people will say, "that wasn't so bad," I will tell you it is fucking scary when you're actually listening to it from your bed.

We have plenty of water, flashlights, batteries, and non-perishable food on hand should we return to a home with no power on Sunday.

But I must say that evacuation preparations are wrought with angst. I've put my most precious objects in our second car that will be braced against the garage door. Love my children to pieces. When I asked what they wanted to include as "precious objects" they immediately handed me their school books and musical instruments. All I put in the trunk of my car were their baby books and our family photo albums. Although the digital photos are going with me on an external hard drive. Anything else is just stuff that can be replaced eventually. First world problems and all that.

My most precious people will be in our other car. The one that conveys me, my husband, and our children out of harms way. What truly matters.

I tell myself I don't care about stuff. It's people and memories that matter to me. It's just things. Things. Right?

Still, you wonder what it will be like if you return home and there is no home. I don't mean to be melodramatic. I am ever the optimist and like to think there will be at most a few days of inconveniences followed by resumption of American life as usual. I may have to toss some spoiled food and fix a few patio screen panels like I did in 2004.

But you can't help look at everything around you and place a value on it. My grandmother gave me that jewelry box when I graduated from high school. That vase is a wedding present from Aunt Ginnie who died last year. I did that brass rubbing at Stratford in 2008 on the most beautiful September day I can remember.

Will this be there when I can come home?

Family means everything. People are paramount. Struggling with what that means when you leave the place you call home is puzzling.

Please have compassion for evacuees. And for people who can't find the will to leave. It's complicated.

[mainstreetonce]

1. Stay safe

Good luck

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. Thank you

[radical noodle]

3. I hope you go home on Sunday to find your home snug

and your possessions intact. While they aren't necessary, they are reminders of another time with people you love or loved.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Much appreciated!

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

Stay safe.

[NightWatcher]

6. Packing up tomorrow morning in the same manner.

I've done it before and probably will do it again.

I hate having to pack the car with the stuff we don't want to lose in the event that the house is leveled.

I've already shoveled out my ex inlaws after Ivan. It sucks.

Hope this isn't a repeat.

[Pacifist Patriot]

8. Be safe!

[AirmensMom]

7. Stay safe.

We went through Hurricane Wilma, so I understand. It's a very stressful time.

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. Thank you

[Cracklin Charlie]

10. Human beings are complicated creatures.

Stay safe, all!

[niyad]

11. have been in the evacuation zone for two major fires, so I have some small idea of what

you are going through.

be safe, and I hope you come home to find everything intact.

I have every bit of compassion for evacuees, including those who do not leave. I keep thinking of katrina--and the people who refused to leave because of their companion furries. I would not go anywhere if I could not take my little ones with me. (cuba's evacuation plans include taking one's companion animals)

[Hekate]

25. Local authorities seem to learn from every fire and from disasters elsewhere

There were always places for folks to take their horses (Earl Warren Showgrounds) but now there are places for people to go with their house pets, too. You can't leave them behind.

[niyad]

39. yes, during waldo canyon and black forest- there was shelter for both large animals,

and some of the shelters allowed one to bring one's smaller companions, or several vets and hospitals sheltered them. no, one cannot leave them behind.

[sheshe2]

12. Just stay safe.

[redwitch]

14. Wishing you a safe journey.

And that you come home to minor inconvenience. Love and light to everyone in the path of this storm. And any other storm, financial, emotional, medical. Life is hard sometimes.

[Warpy]

15. I remember trying to convince my dad to evacuate

from the last one that actually threatened the county. He was on one of the barrier islands and any sort of a storm surge would have flooded everything. He said he was over 80 and something was going to kill him so he was staying put, stubborn as a rock.

That one missed him, as did the 2004 hurricanes, although he complained bitterly about how long the local liquor store stayed closed.

With so many old folks there, if this stinker comes up the Indian River like it looks right now, there will be loss of life among the stubborn old farts like my dad. He's gone now and I miss him but I'm glad he's not facing this one. I think it might hit the area.

[Skittles]

16. my experience

I came home from school and my dad was gone, ill and taken away for a year.....I lost: my residence, my friends, my school, and had to move from England to America - was away from my family too (I lived with my aunt and uncle, brothers went with grandparents)

it sucks

[CaptainTruth]

17. I'm on Merritt Island. This afternoon the prediction increased from Cat 1 to Cat 3 ....

We're heading west tomorrow morning. In 2004 our house just lost some shingles (got a new roof) so I'm hoping it's no worse than that this time.

[DawgHouse]

29. My friend from Merritt went over to Rockledge.

Didn't seem far enough away from the coast, IMO. I live in Winter Park and we are taking serious precautions here. Stay safe.

[cry baby]

18. My daughter is in Melbourne, Fla. She has a 5mo old and a significant other

and 2 large dogs. She just moved there 1yr ago. I've been trying to talk her into leaving, but she thinks she is going to stay. Some of her neighbors are staying so she thinks it's going to be safe. I asked her to just be on the safe side.

After reading your post, I understand better why she may decide not to evacuate. But I'm going to keep trying to convince her. If anything bad happened to her baby...well, she would be devastated forever.

I hope she goes, and doesn't wait too late so they're stuck on the road.

[mopinko]

19. 2 big dogs make it harder, but

something you just have to be ready for if you live where these kinds of disasters happen.

hope she takes you advice and gets out of there.

[cry baby]

20. You're absolutely right. And...ME TOO! nt

[Hekate]

21. May you and yours be safe, may your home be waiting for you

with us, it's regional wildfires, but so far so good.

[Leith]

22. It Sounds Like You Have Everything Under Control as Much as Possible

People who have never been through hurricanes don't really understand. It is NOT like a thunderstorm on steroids. It is like a tornado right outside your door and window for 24 to 36 hours straight. You don't know if the window is going to break and throw glass all over the room and you. You don't know if the filthy water is going to come pouring in. The only connection you have to the rest of the world is a small battery powered radio and the local DJ who has been talking to you all night is your best friend.

You have your most possessions in the safest places you have. And, best of all, you have your family with you. All of you will be safe and you will get through it just fine. Maybe the people in the hotel will make a party out of it since you will be out of the worst of it. Be sure to bring one or two of your favorite beverages!

Let us know how all of you are on the other side of it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

37. Yep, you get it.

A bottle or three of wine may have fallen into my suitcase.

[murielm99]

23. Be safe, everyone. n/t

[people]

24. evacuation decision is complicated

My brother is in Jupiter, Florida and he says they are going to stay - they are not evacuating. They were in hurricane Andrew and it was really scary. Maybe the hurricane will stay out in the Atlantic and all of you in Florida and further north will not be heavily impacted. Good luck everyone and be safe.

[B2G]

26. That moved me.

Prayers for a safe exit and easy return.

[mountain grammy]

27. I'm glad you're getting out before the storm

I went through Alicia living about 25 miles from Galveston, which took a direct hit. I begged my friends in Galveston to come to my house, dogs, cats, whatever they needed to bring, and most did, but my friend and her boyfriend stayed until the front of their house blew away and the water was too high for them to leave. Luckily, they found shelter in the neighbors house.. everyone had evacuated but them. They truly thought they were going to die. Over 20 people did.

Good for you getting out of there. Hoping for the best!

[Ruby the Liberal]

28. I totally get this

After having to make the evac decision 3 times, I ended up a minimalist. Just something that stuck with me over the years. Not that I was ever a hoarder, but when you have to walk away from everything you know, knowing it might not be there, the attachment to 'things' just evaporates. I get it.

Stay safe.

[lillypaddle]

30. Good luck to you and your familly

stay safe.

[applegrove]

31. We saw on the news up here in Canada that they had reversed some of the twin highways

in Florida so that both sets of lanes were heading inland. Vibes to one and all.

[CanSocDem]

40. Maybe you have to be Canadian to remember...

...that photograph from Katrina that showed a completely immobile northbound side of a major freeway and a completely empty southbound side???????? The Eisenhower administration must be rolling in their graves seeing that.

A newscaster this morning commented about 'what a good idea...' your story was. I'm beginning to think that Americans don't respond well to natural disasters.


.

[applegrove]

41. I do remember that.

[duncang]

32. I have been through a bunch of hurricanes

Stay safe. And hoping it will move out more into the Atlantic the forecasts don't look good for the east coast.

You do what you can and just hope for the best. You never really know what a hurricane is going to do. They have gotten better at forecasting but it still is a probability.

Each time is different. One that sticks out in my mind as a kid was hurricane carla it was supposed to track through Houston. So we packed up and left heading west. The hurricane shifted course westerly. And we were on the road no place to stay while the hurricane went over us. At that point it had been on shore long enough so it was a tropical storm. But that still was scary sitting in the car. So yes it can get complicated.

So when you hear about some staying it could be because they remember a time when something like that happened to them. Don't judge those who stay harshly. I have done both evacuate and stay. It's all still a coin toss when it comes down to it.

[PennyK]

33. We're in Rockledge and we are staying

Hubster feels that our house is plenty sturdy. I do know where there's a shelter we can go to with our cat, but I'm hoping it won't come to that. We are packing "go bags" just in case, and I am organizing everything we would need to bring. It IS complicated.

[gwheezie]

34. During Isabel we left the house

We went to a motel. We took our 11 dogs & 5 cats with us. I moved my horses & goats to a friend on higher ground. We came home to a mess but alive.
I'll never forget Floyd. I was farm sitting for a friend about 20 miles from me with a creek on her property. I spent the day tucking her horses in the barn, got home & watched the weather. I made a split decision to go back & turn the horses out, they were closing the roads but a trooper gave me 15 minutes to get the horses out and I got them all out & made it home. When Floyd blew through I got back to my friends house & found the water had risen so high it raged through the barn at about 9 feet high. If I had left her horses in they all would have drowned in their stalls.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

35. Dear Pacifist Patriot

I lived in Florida for over 20 years, and saw the effects of Andrew and Wilma.

I absolutely understand what you are saying, but it is not complicated. When the authorities tell you to evacuate a barrier island or low-lying area, take your selves and your pets and get the Hell out. Don't overthink it. Everything else is stuff. Lives are what matter.

[Pacifist Patriot]

36. Decision to evacuate an easy one

We don't live beach side, but we decided to evacuate anyway. No question about that. It's the uncertainty of what the aftermath may be. It's been the only home two of my kids have ever known.

We're extremely fortunate we have the resources to evacuate comfortably. I'm worried about the people in my community who can't.

A lot of emotions to work through. Times like these are tough on us INFJ bleeding heart liberals. LOL!

[RockaFowler]

38. Stay safe my friend

I'm just south of you in Port St Lucie.

We are staying, but I'm scared. The last Hurricane we went through was Wilma. This looks worse. I feel safer here because we have prepared all that we can. I was in a mobile home 11 years ago. This house feels better and I have shutters for all of the windows.

My 3 dachshunds are old storm pros now. That's another reason why we aren't evacuating. It's harder and harder to travel and find locations that will take our kids.