do you think the people that stayed after being told to leave the storm should?

l been in many hurricanes in Florida and l could understand a person wanting to protect their property by wanting to stay. Of course their others who can't afford to move and are stuck where they are. So unless you experienced what those people are going through now may l suggest that you keep your opinions to your self and pray for the people who are now in need. The easiest thing that anybody can do is to be a arm chair quarterback after the fact.

We never know why some people choose to stay in circumstances like that.

A lot of times the media hypes up something, just to end up being nothing.

I heard a survivor from the Hurricane Katrina storm say that there is a warning of flooding just about every year. The first year he lived in the area, he packed up, boarded up his windows & left town like the officials said he should.

He got back home & absolutely nothing had happened in his area. And all his co-workers were laughing at him--none of them had left. So he missed days of work with no pay (which I'm sure his employer was not happy with him leaving) just for nothing. After that, he said, he never really heeded the warnings & nothing ever happened for years until Katrina.

Also, some bosses who are also use to all these warnings, may not let employees take the time off of work to pack & relocate. They may fire the employee.

ANother thing is health conditions. If a person is on a trach or vent (whatever they're called), oxygen mask or dialysis, does that person really want to leave? How would they get their treatments or tanks, if need be? And what about meds? Will they be able to refill, if necessary, in their new location? Would their health insurance cover 'out of program' costs?

Another thing is homeless people. If they had a place to go, they wouldn't be homeless in the first place.

And what about looting? Would the house/business be looted while they are away?

And where would people with pets/kids go? Almost no hotels take pets. Human shelters definitely won't allow them in. And relatives--if one has one that will let them stay--may not want the pets/kids disrupting their lives.

And some people just don't have the money to leave. Not only is there a cost in relocating (& stocking supplies), but there is also the $$ that will be missed by not working. For a lot of people, that could bankrupt them.

There are many reasons why people would stay. I don't think we should criticize their decision & we already pay taxes for programs for when problems like this occur, why double-bill the taxpayers when something DOES happen?

I guess I'm divided on this. Personal property/homes etc that are in an area that historically at risk should not receive govt money(any insurance they carry is their concern). Personal life is not a commodity. Save people. They stay for a variety of reasons. I stayed in my apt during hurricane Irene. By the time the truck drove by with the megaphone telling us to leave, I had no where to go. Daughter's house was just as wet, I don't own the building and was ready for no power. I mopped during the worst part and was glad I didn't lose a roof or get first floor flooding. I might have needed rescued then but that's a chance we take sometimes. But, if I was doing this for my personal entertainment, that would be different. I didn't go out of my way to be in harms way, have a hobby that put me in danger etc. Still then it is human life.

This condition in America is getting ridiculous. The memory of Katrina just can not have left the minds of those folks. Sadly, people have died for their ignorance. I think it is time those in power make such warnings, mandatory. If you do no abide, do not expect to get bailed out.

One of the things that could have be avoided with a little thought, are the fires. These are natural gas line fires. If home owners would have turn off those gas lines, as they were leaving, the majority of those fires could have been avoided. It just seems that Americans are only focus on self, to the point of being ignorant and self damaging. Sadly, it is beginning to look as if the authorities are gonna have to start issuing mandatory rules for all natural catastrophes.

While I know there may be that rare occasion when a person has no means of transport, no place to go, perhaps disabled, I am not saying this to include them.

Those who could have gone, but didn't go by choice absolutely should have to pay. There was warning and orders to leave long before it was too late. It makes me think these people really should have to fend for themselves. There was even enough warning that those who could not leave under their own steam could found help from friends or agencies.

I think they are fools!

There will always be stubborn and ignorant people who won't take any precautions to preserve their own life or health.

In Britain, some of our upland moors in places like Yorkshire and Cumbria are bleak, cold desolate places, with bogs, cliffs and other natural hazards, where the weather can turn in an instant, a freeizng fog can descend out of no-where, or a blizzard blow in.

And every year without fail, some morons will set off to cross them, wearing a tee-shirt, jeans and trainers, not telling anyone where they are going, and without even a compass and certainly no knowledge of survival techniques.

And year after year the emergency services are called out, at enormous expense and personal risk, to rescue these cretins who are usualy found fogbound, and shivering with hypothermia, huddled in a crevice somewhere, totally lost.

You'd think people would learn.

Unfortunately, many think they know better.

I think it's sad about the attitudes. It wasn't even close to Katrina, which was a category 5 monster. Many of us that live in a hurricane prone area have to make the decision to stay or go by the size of the storm, and the possibility that you might not be able to leave. Ever live paycheck to paycheck? You have to have MONEY to leave with. You might already have an emergency or illness in your life that keeps you from leaving, if it's only a Cat 2 storm. My home is supposedly rated to withstand hurricane force winds to a Cat 2 storm and maybe theirs was, too.

They are warned, but are there enough help to get people without cars, or feeble elderly or ill out. We have the same problem with idiots who are told not to go in the back country cause they will set off avalanches. Next you know some family member is blubbering away on the news of having lost their family member due to the big, mean avalanche that came out of nowhere and swallowed them up.

I've always thought that it is legally sanctioned piracy and an Orwellian perversion of the law, and also a hateful sort of vigilantism for the government to "bill" individuals for benefiting from various government services that we have all already paid for with our taxes.

But how's this for a quid pro quo: I'm willing to let the government "bill" me for being protected by the cops and the firefighters and the search and rescue teams if I am then legally permitted to sue the ignoramuses among the cops and the firefighters and the search and rescue teams every single time that THEY make any kind of a mistake. Which is PLENTY of times, in case you don't know.

Yes, they should pay. Gov. Christie warned the people of New Jersey that if they chose not to evacuate before the storm hit, in spite of all the warnings, that other people's lives would not be placed at risk to rescue them. He should have added that if a search and rescue mission had to be initiated then it would cost dearly for that effort.