Why the widespread evacuations?

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traveller
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Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by traveller »

As a resident of Fort Myers, Florida, I have noticed that a whole lot of people, even as far inland as Lehigh Acres (at least 25 miles from the ocean) are evacuating, going all the way up to Georgia, some even to Tennessee, Colorado, and other states.

It's like people are acting as though; 1, Hurricane Irma has sustained winds of even 975,000 miles per hour and storm surges of over 300 miles tall, or 2, the entire State of Florida lies an average of 50 feet below sea level. It's like Floridians may as well be saying; "Irma's winds will rip the Earth's crust right down to the mantle. Storm surge from Irma will wash around the Earth, submerging the continent of North America, shattering through the Great Wall of China, and even washing over the Himalaya mountains likely even submerging the summit of Mount Everest, and also washing right through all of Africa."

Not me. I plan to stay and ride it out at home. Also, when too many people evacuate unnecessarily, it creates all the more congestion on the highways, often resulting in bumper to bumper traffic crawling along at as slow as a quarter of a mile per hour. You really are only supposed to evacuate if you live less than 2 miles from the sea, less than half a mile from a large/major river, if you live below sea level, or if you live in a mobile home or even an unstable wood frame structure house with a gable roof.
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Contrarian Expatriate
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by Contrarian Expatriate »

Look at the damage Hurricane Andrew did to South Florida some years ago and that is your answer.
Mercury
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by Mercury »

"God Himself could never stand up in hurricane winds!"

That is the exact attitude Americans in the South have about hurricanes. They see videos of mobile home parks and single family homes destroyed, and they flee to the mountains even when it's a tropical storm. Americans are very paranoid. They will flee even when no danger pursues them, hence Americans have become highly mobile, continuously on the move across the country and they no longer live in the same state for more than a few years. In America, even popping a few latex balloons or bubble wrap in public will cause a mad stampede of people fleeing, as if fleeing from a crazed killer with a gun. And though the Turkey Point Nuclear plant survived Hurricane Andrew, Americans will pretend like Turkey Point was shattered and ripped out of the ground by Andrew's winds, it's remains even still being found as far away as China. And though the Louisiana Superdome survived Katrina albeit with two holes in the roof, Americans are like; "The Louisiana Superdome was shattered, ripped out of the ground, and pulverized by Katrina's winds. The Superdome's remains have been found in many different countries as far away as Australia, China, Russia, and India. There were no survivors at all, everyone in the dome was killed."

There is even a long standing myth that is as follows; "Why even bother preparing? When the storm hits, it is all going to blow away regardless." Americans don't even trust local hurricane shelters anymore! Again, it's the attitude of; "God Himself could never stand up in hurricane winds." That is why over 90 percent of Floridians, even in inland places like Orlando, Sebring, Lakeland, Ocala, and even Lake City are fleeing to the mountains of Georgia ahead of Irma like the Great Flood of Genesis is coming.
Moretorque
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by Moretorque »

I 75 is backed up here in Gainesville and all gas is sold out even here.

You would have had to have seen what Andrew did in 1992 , I went there 2 days after and seeing it on film did no justice to what really occurred.

Andrew was a mean mother fuc ker, everything for around a 25 mile swath was totally destroyed for the most part. It was hard to believe.......
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OutWest
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by OutWest »

traveller wrote:As a resident of Fort Myers, Florida, I have noticed that a whole lot of people, even as far inland as Lehigh Acres (at least 25 miles from the ocean) are evacuating, going all the way up to Georgia, some even to Tennessee, Colorado, and other states.

It's like people are acting as though; 1, Hurricane Irma has sustained winds of even 975,000 miles per hour and storm surges of over 300 miles tall, or 2, the entire State of Florida lies an average of 50 feet below sea level. It's like Floridians may as well be saying; "Irma's winds will rip the Earth's crust right down to the mantle. Storm surge from Irma will wash around the Earth, submerging the continent of North America, shattering through the Great Wall of China, and even washing over the Himalaya mountains likely even submerging the summit of Mount Everest, and also washing right through all of Africa."

Not me. I plan to stay and ride it out at home. Also, when too many people evacuate unnecessarily, it creates all the more congestion on the highways, often resulting in bumper to bumper traffic crawling along at as slow as a quarter of a mile per hour. You really are only supposed to evacuate if you live less than 2 miles from the sea, less than half a mile from a large/major river, if you live below sea level, or if you live in a mobile home or even an unstable wood frame structure house with a gable roof.
If you had been through a serious hurricane you would not ask the question.
traveller
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by traveller »

OutWest wrote:
If you had been through a serious hurricane you would not ask the question.
Many homes and apartment buildings in Florida these days are made of concrete block, most of them even reinforced with steel rebar; many such structures performed very well even in Hurricane Andrew. And Florida is far from being all one huge mobile home park. And neither is all of Florida all wood frame only homes like Miami's Country Walk area before Hurricane Andrew.
Moretorque
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by Moretorque »

traveller wrote:
OutWest wrote:
If you had been through a serious hurricane you would not ask the question.
Many homes and apartment buildings in Florida these days are made of concrete block, most of them even reinforced with steel rebar; many such structures performed very well even in Hurricane Andrew. And Florida is far from being all one huge mobile home park. And neither is all of Florida all wood frame only homes like Miami's Country Walk area before Hurricane Andrew.
If you would have seen with your own eyes you would not say that, every piece of property had major damage that was in Andrews path.

This storm is way bigger so leaving is really the best bet. Were just lucky it's not hurricane Winston....
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HouseMD
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by HouseMD »

OutWest wrote:
traveller wrote:As a resident of Fort Myers, Florida, I have noticed that a whole lot of people, even as far inland as Lehigh Acres (at least 25 miles from the ocean) are evacuating, going all the way up to Georgia, some even to Tennessee, Colorado, and other states.

It's like people are acting as though; 1, Hurricane Irma has sustained winds of even 975,000 miles per hour and storm surges of over 300 miles tall, or 2, the entire State of Florida lies an average of 50 feet below sea level. It's like Floridians may as well be saying; "Irma's winds will rip the Earth's crust right down to the mantle. Storm surge from Irma will wash around the Earth, submerging the continent of North America, shattering through the Great Wall of China, and even washing over the Himalaya mountains likely even submerging the summit of Mount Everest, and also washing right through all of Africa."

Not me. I plan to stay and ride it out at home. Also, when too many people evacuate unnecessarily, it creates all the more congestion on the highways, often resulting in bumper to bumper traffic crawling along at as slow as a quarter of a mile per hour. You really are only supposed to evacuate if you live less than 2 miles from the sea, less than half a mile from a large/major river, if you live below sea level, or if you live in a mobile home or even an unstable wood frame structure house with a gable roof.
If you had been through a serious hurricane you would not ask the question.
Some of my relatives were out rescuing people down south during these recent messes that were too dumb to evacuate. You can lead a horse to water...
Mercury
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by Mercury »

Moretorque wrote:
traveller wrote:
Many homes and apartment buildings in Florida these days are made of concrete block, most of them even reinforced with steel rebar; many such structures performed very well even in Hurricane Andrew. And Florida is far from being all one huge mobile home park. And neither is all of Florida all wood frame only homes like Miami's Country Walk area before Hurricane Andrew.
Concrete brings zero comfort to Americans who will imagine, even in a Category 1 hurricane, solid concrete hotels and apartment/condo buildings, multi story steel reinforced concrete parking garages; yes, even steel frame skyscrapers being shattered, ripped completely out of the ground, and violently hurled thousands of miles. And in a Category 5, they will imagine the Earth's crust ripped right down even past the mantle and debris hurled into space, even far enough to hit the Moon. To them, a Category 5 hurricane will reduce Mount Everest, and the entire Himalaya Mountain chain, to pea and marble sized pebbles.

And the size Irma was, to paranoid Americans, Irma could have produced up to a 6,000 mile tall storm surge that would have washed over 1,000 times around the Earth before diminishing, washing every single mountain, city, and village into the sea. Denver, New York City, Salt Lake City, New Delhi, Paris, Moscow, Ulaanbaatar, Beijing, Bogota, Santiago, Mexico City; yes, even the Chinese region of Tibet. All shattered and washed into the ocean.
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HouseMD
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by HouseMD »

Mercury wrote:
Moretorque wrote:
traveller wrote:
Many homes and apartment buildings in Florida these days are made of concrete block, most of them even reinforced with steel rebar; many such structures performed very well even in Hurricane Andrew. And Florida is far from being all one huge mobile home park. And neither is all of Florida all wood frame only homes like Miami's Country Walk area before Hurricane Andrew.
Concrete brings zero comfort to Americans who will imagine, even in a Category 1 hurricane, solid concrete hotels and apartment/condo buildings, multi story steel reinforced concrete parking garages; yes, even steel frame skyscrapers being shattered, ripped completely out of the ground, and violently hurled thousands of miles. And in a Category 5, they will imagine the Earth's crust ripped right down even past the mantle and debris hurled into space, even far enough to hit the Moon. To them, a Category 5 hurricane will reduce Mount Everest, and the entire Himalaya Mountain chain, to pea and marble sized pebbles.

And the size Irma was, to paranoid Americans, Irma could have produced up to a 6,000 mile tall storm surge that would have washed over 1,000 times around the Earth before diminishing, washing every single mountain, city, and village into the sea. Denver, New York City, Salt Lake City, New Delhi, Paris, Moscow, Ulaanbaatar, Beijing, Bogota, Santiago, Mexico City; yes, even the Chinese region of Tibet. All shattered and washed into the ocean.
A concrete building that's full of water may be standing but it's still just a watery grave, genius.
MatureDJ
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Re: Why the widespread evacuations?

Post by MatureDJ »

The problem with Florida, especially south of Orlando, is that it is all low-lying, and a hurricane could push water across the whole state (and even Lake Okeechobee could be the source of flood waters, as a hurricane in 1928 did, killing thousands). And then there are the winds, which across flat, treeless land could be like a giant tornado. Oh, and as Houston had shown, there could be Noahic rains. In this southern region of Florida, everyone lives near some coast, and it doesn''t get sufficiently safe until Orlando. And finally, even if in an area that is safe, there is the hassle of not having electric power and clean water for a while.
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