It has always been a pipe dream.
And panic has not set in yet. Hurricane does not arrive till Sunday. Even if you only attempted to evacuate one fifth of the South Florida population, you simply cannot squeeze one million people in three major highways without making it a mess.
And only one direction: North.
So it is a choice between getting screwed at home or in your car parked in a remote highway. That is why so many choose to weather it out.
What differs this time is there is nothing in the US prepped to withstand a category 5 hurricane this big. You just pray you are far enough from the eye you get the lower wind speeds that you know or figure you can withstand.
I don’t understand this last minute evac or prep mentality. On the news right now they’re showing video of long lines of motor vehicles waiting to get fuel and long lines of people waiting to get in Home Depot to get supplies. This hurricane was no surprise to anyone, it’s not like it just popped up on the coast of Florida, it’s been out there for a while, yet the people did nothing to prepare for it until nearly the last moment. I have little faith that the US will survive a zombie apocalypse. At least Jet Blue is offering $99 tickets out of there, but I’m guessing the people will start getting in line for that ride about the same time Irma is toppling the air traffic towers.
Hey Miguel, if you don’t have a copy of mah book, Technical Manual: Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse, DM me your address on the twitters and I’ll send you a copy, once mail service is restored in FL. Best of luck to you.
Since Wilma we have not had a major or minor hurricane hit us. During the same time we went from 17,778,156 people to 20,612,439.So you have a combination of the usual Last Minute Idiots with totally Clueless Newbies.
And truthfully? You never feel ready. You want one more case of water, maybe another gallon of fuel or you simply forgot some stupid thing (In my case, a funnel) so so people chance it.
Yeah, I get that never feel ready feeling, I did Harvey shopping, although I had plenty of storm supplies, I just did my shopping when Harvey first entered the Gulf, not a day before landfall. Also, I’m with Joe, the only evac for me is to mah storm shelter.
The scenes those pictures show are the reason I’m not willing to evacuate for a hurricane. From Alicia to the recent Harvey, I stay. Now that I’m 100 ± from the coast I really have no reason to leave anyway.
You be safe Miguel. I’ll keep a good thought for you.
you simply cannot squeeze one million people in three major highways without making it a mess. It’s actually worse than that. Two of those major ways north converge into one at Wildwood, where the turnpike and I-75 meet. That makes only two major routes out of the state. You could get to I-10 and go west into the panhandle. That appears “safe” at the moment. Or you could get on US 1 or 441 and face the constant lights and city traffic. Shouldn’t be that much worse than the I-75/95 parking lots.
Good luck and God speed, Miguel. I’m getting ready to hang up the shutters and “hunker down” here, too.
[…] [2]https://gunfreezone.net/index.php/2017/09/07/florida-evacuation/ […]
Why don’t they open the southbound lanes for the emergency?
The majority of people are still staying put. You need supplies to be delivered plus emergency personnel, linemen, etc need to be pre-positioned. The highway makes for sexy TV but in Florida evacuation from a hurricane that track South to North? You are taking chances.
I think a lot depends on what you’re used to. I grew up mostly in Idaho so winter storms don’t bother me much. Lived in Charlotte, NC for a few years; whenever a winter storm was predicted, grocery stores were out of bread and milk the day before. Part of this was the local news hyping anything more than an inch of snow as “The Storm of the Century” (complete with reverberation effect).
Now Hurricanes on the other hand, I’m outa there a week ahead of predicted landfall (LOL).
Stay safe down there.
Irish
Thanks… 🙂