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I live in South Florida and this nails it. My friends who have lived here a short time are already planning to pack up and leave. My friends who have been here

I live in South Florida and this nails it. My friends who have lived here a short time are already planning to pack up and leave. My friends who have been here for 10+ years are all just going to stay and ride it out. I think even if they issued mandatory evacuations many of them would still not leave. They all speak longingly of having neighborhood "hurricane parties" while they wait for the power to come back on. They think of it as South Florida snow days. An inconvenience at worst, a fun few days off school and work at best. They just don't see the threat as being that serious.

JustSomeNobody 9y ago
Florida native here. They must not remember Andrew. It was not fun and games. The media plays these storms up, yes, but they really are nothing to joke about. Even inland, as much rain as they produce, it only takes that one gust to push over a 200 year old oak and it can destroy a house. People should take these storms seriously. First responders' lives are put into jeopardy because of foolishness like that. Not trying to be all up on my soapbox here. I've just seen some stuff is all.
- jsight 9y ago
  The overemphasis on coastal areas is a real problem, actually. I have known people that evacuated away from the storm, only to get kicked out of the hotel as it started to flood (~100 miles inland). The whole, "everything on the coast is about to be destroyed" trope that gets blasted all over the nation doesn't help with proper risk assessment and planning.
- fma 9y ago
  Florida native here, too. What op is probably referring to are those who haven't been decimated yet. I've lived in Ft.lauderdale a for a while and went through Andrew. We evacuated inland. The place we evacuated to lost power, where our house didn't. Ironic, isn't it. Ft.lauderdale wasn't near the eye. It was Miami/Homestead. Anyone who has lived in Ft.lauderdale has probably not faced a damaging hurricane. Andrew was 25 years ago. I do not recall any hurricane after that that caused as much alarm. Just a few days off school.
  - importantbrian 9y ago
    ^ This I live in Ft. Lauderdale and most of my friends live in Broward. In our age group even if they lived here for Andrew they probably don't remember it. I would have been 6 when it happened.
  - lsaferite 9y ago
    We haven't had a major hurricane make landfall in FL in 12 years. People begin to forget the fear and seriousness in that time.
    - swasheck 9y ago
      I grew up in Orlando and my high school gym was a shelter for those displaced by Andrew. That stretches back quite a bit farther than 12 years, I know, but the image of folks living in the gym has been seared into my brain. It's part of the reason why I asked the original question.
- importantbrian 9y ago
  Yeah, the problem is I live in Ft. Lauderdale, so there hasn't been a truly devastating storm during the lifetime of most of the people I know. Most of my friends are around my age and I would have been 6 when Andrew came through, so even if they lived in Miami-Dade where the worst effects were they probably don't remember it.
ska 9y ago
>They just don't see the threat as being that serious. Which is fine, until it isn't. One problem with having survived a few hurricanes is that they aren't "that bad" until you hit one that was. I've seen bad enough that I'd never want to see a stronger one. Even without any additional risk, a week without power or fresh water in a hundred degrees isn't anyone idea of fun. If the climate models are right on this, we're going to see increased frequency of exceptionally violent ones, and many more people are going to die "riding it out". I don't know if knowing that it really changes anything though. In a lot of these bigger metro areas, full evacuation isn't really practical either.
- chirau 9y ago
  To be fair, most people just don't respond as rapidly to anything they are used to. It's the same reason why New Yorkers are not bothered by fire trucks at all and/or fire alarms. To quote you, "Which is fine, until it isn't". Looking from the outside in, it's easy to question their logic, but i am sure we all have traits that outsiders would wonder why we are so nonchalant about it. It's adaptation, it's human conditioning, it's nature.
  - pamqzl 9y ago
    I wonder how many of those in this thread wondering "why don't they evacuate?" live in California's earthquake zone.
chinathrow 9y ago
The keys are having a mandatory evacuation because of Irma.

JustSomeNobody 9y ago

Florida native here. They must not remember Andrew. It was not fun and games. The media plays these storms up, yes, but they really are nothing to joke about. Even inland, as much rain as they produce, it only takes that one gust to push over a 200 year old oak and it can destroy a house. People should take these storms seriously. First responders' lives are put into jeopardy because of foolishness like that. Not trying to be all up on my soapbox here. I've just seen some stuff is all.

jsight 9y ago
The overemphasis on coastal areas is a real problem, actually. I have known people that evacuated away from the storm, only to get kicked out of the hotel as it started to flood (~100 miles inland). The whole, "everything on the coast is about to be destroyed" trope that gets blasted all over the nation doesn't help with proper risk assessment and planning.
fma 9y ago
Florida native here, too. What op is probably referring to are those who haven't been decimated yet. I've lived in Ft.lauderdale a for a while and went through Andrew. We evacuated inland. The place we evacuated to lost power, where our house didn't. Ironic, isn't it. Ft.lauderdale wasn't near the eye. It was Miami/Homestead. Anyone who has lived in Ft.lauderdale has probably not faced a damaging hurricane. Andrew was 25 years ago. I do not recall any hurricane after that that caused as much alarm. Just a few days off school.
- importantbrian 9y ago
  ^ This I live in Ft. Lauderdale and most of my friends live in Broward. In our age group even if they lived here for Andrew they probably don't remember it. I would have been 6 when it happened.
- lsaferite 9y ago
  We haven't had a major hurricane make landfall in FL in 12 years. People begin to forget the fear and seriousness in that time.
  - swasheck 9y ago
    I grew up in Orlando and my high school gym was a shelter for those displaced by Andrew. That stretches back quite a bit farther than 12 years, I know, but the image of folks living in the gym has been seared into my brain. It's part of the reason why I asked the original question.
importantbrian 9y ago
Yeah, the problem is I live in Ft. Lauderdale, so there hasn't been a truly devastating storm during the lifetime of most of the people I know. Most of my friends are around my age and I would have been 6 when Andrew came through, so even if they lived in Miami-Dade where the worst effects were they probably don't remember it.

ska 9y ago

>They just don't see the threat as being that serious. Which is fine, until it isn't. One problem with having survived a few hurricanes is that they aren't "that bad" until you hit one that was. I've seen bad enough that I'd never want to see a stronger one. Even without any additional risk, a week without power or fresh water in a hundred degrees isn't anyone idea of fun. If the climate models are right on this, we're going to see increased frequency of exceptionally violent ones, and many more people are going to die "riding it out". I don't know if knowing that it really changes anything though. In a lot of these bigger metro areas, full evacuation isn't really practical either.

chirau 9y ago
To be fair, most people just don't respond as rapidly to anything they are used to. It's the same reason why New Yorkers are not bothered by fire trucks at all and/or fire alarms. To quote you, "Which is fine, until it isn't". Looking from the outside in, it's easy to question their logic, but i am sure we all have traits that outsiders would wonder why we are so nonchalant about it. It's adaptation, it's human conditioning, it's nature.
- pamqzl 9y ago
  I wonder how many of those in this thread wondering "why don't they evacuate?" live in California's earthquake zone.

chinathrow 9y ago

The keys are having a mandatory evacuation because of Irma.