That is the last situation were I would want to be unarmed in. Not to mention it's not like you can just "leave" anytime you would like.
It is basically voluntary incarceration. That is about the last thing that anyone should do.
It is hard to known when to get out; these storms are still very unpredictable and the media and public authorities are near worthless at gaging the real threat. Both groups are more interested in grand standing and covering their own behind then in presenting a realistic apprasal of the situation.
The best thing you can do is to gage your own situation. If you are in a relatively strong building, outside of the major flood zones, and have some food and water, you are better off staying in place. It is better to be there to salvage what you can, then to run off in a panic where you may find yourself block form returning for weeks on end.
I was evacuated from my beach front home during Andrew, and ended up sitting much closer to the eye of the storm then I would have had I stayed at home. Then the next day after driving through a ruined city for nearly four hours, I was prohibited from returning to my home by the authorities. I was only a couple of blocks away; but, according to the local mayor, they didn't want anyone returning to the area until the traffic lights had been restored (a task which eventually took nearly a month). So he ordered local police to seal off the access bridges. Needless to say, we told them to F__K off and arrest us if they must, and walked right by them. Within a couple of hours we had thousands of cars abandoned all over the beach appraoches doing the same thing; that evening the county manager stepped in and forced the beach mayor to reopen the roadways. But, this kind of bureucratic bullshit is the reason why so many are reluctant to leave.
n2s
