# Acquaintance refuses to evacuate, Irene coming

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 26, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206 "2011-08-26T19:06:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206/41 "2011-08-30T14:21:50Z")

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> [@billfish678](#):
>
> Bolding mine.
> 
> And its statements like that cause people to stay when they shouldn’t and get killed by the surge.

Well, fair enough, but I did say that she should leave. But even if she doesn’t (didn’t now) the storm surge isn’t going to be (wasn’t) NEARLY enough to wash her and her entire home out to sea. The winds were also not strong enough to compromise the structural integrity of the home.

Of course, facts matter. If she is living in a shanty or a cardboard box, that changes things considerably. But as a general rule, the media needs to stop talking about Cat 1 hurricanes and \<10 ft. storm surges as the second coming of Christ. It causes needless panic, hurts the local economy, and makes people disregard REAL warnings when the storm of the century hits.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206/42 "2011-08-30T15:41:46Z")

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^^Amen

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**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206/43 "2011-08-30T15:58:11Z")

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> [@jtgain](#):
>
> Well, fair enough, but I did say that she should leave. But even if she doesn’t (didn’t now) the storm surge isn’t going to be (wasn’t) NEARLY enough to wash her and her entire home out to sea. The winds were also not strong enough to compromise the structural integrity of the home.
> 
> Of course, facts matter. If she is living in a shanty or a cardboard box, that changes things considerably. But as a general rule, the media needs to stop talking about Cat 1 hurricanes and \<10 ft. storm surges as the second coming of Christ. It causes needless panic, hurts the local economy, and makes people disregard REAL warnings when the storm of the century hits.

So you knew from day one it would be just a Cat 1 when it hit? And not a 2 or possibly 3?

It doesnt HAVE to sweep her or her house out to sea. All it has to do is flood her location enough that she has to swim for it and her chances of death increase greatly. Shit, people die all the time hundreds of miles up rivers from the sea when they flood and the darn river bank is just right over “there”. And those floods usually don’t have massive waves or winds of 100mph give or take.

Why do people who would balk at getting in some cold, nasty NYC water or wet themselves at the thought of swimming in rough surf at the beach (and often can’t swim for shit to start with) think that “swimming for it” is a prudent plan B should the storm surge be a bit more than the likely or likely minimum?

Yeah, if you are a buff white water paddler or BIG wave surfing dude with a proper lifejacket and a drysuit you might have a decent chance. Your typical fat assed American that can barely do the Walmart perimeter or Old Maw and Paw kettle…uggh likely dead people floating.

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206/44 "2011-08-30T17:25:44Z")

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So, any updates, **Sailboat**? I saw some crazy footage recently of the storm - massive flooding and stuff.

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**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206/45 "2011-08-30T20:53:51Z")

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…never to be heard from again.

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acquaintance-refuses-to-evacuate-irene-coming/594206/46 "2011-08-30T21:40:20Z")

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