News-Record.com

The North Carolina Piedmont Triad's top go-to source for News
A service of the News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina

Home

The Front Pew

« Houses of worship get money, too | Main | Where can I find this? »

"Tell someone to come get me please. I want to live."

Should emergency workers risk their lives to rescue people who chose to stay in their homes despite the warnings of how bad this could get?

Comments (3)

To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.

Lex said:

A fair question regarding those who have cars ... but about a third of New Orleans residents don't own cars. (There is, or was, a pretty good bus system.) To fully evacuate the city would have taken a minimum of 72 hours, and 72 hours before landfall, the hurricane was still over the southern tip of Florida.

mrproduce said:

Good observation Lex. From what I have seen many of those who did not leave were the poor, the elderly who had no one to assist them or were more afraid of leaving than they were of staying since many of them had lived through other hurricanes. Some, as I saw last night did not leave because they thought they were being macho/brave. Those were the ones in the bars that remained open somehow after the curfew . On those folks, I don't have much pity. The others, Yea, I would certainly go the extra mile for them. Now we have the situation of those who did seek shelter in the Dome are having to be moved to somewhere. Last I viewed hundreds were sitting along the roads awaiting transportation to somewhere. My God have mercy on them.
The places I have viewed on TV are worse than any war zone I have ever been in.

Lex said:

Writer Cherie Priest has some thoughts on this subject:

* * *
It was mentioned in the comments of [a blog entry] that the locals shown on the news tended to be the blustery type — "Evacuation be damned! I’m going to stick it out!" It's easy to put these people on TV, because they make for good soundbytes -- and they make it easier for the masses to care less when they get killed. Why, they practically asked for it! Darwin’s system is at work, and those too stupid to escape got what was coming to 'em.

But the truth is this: people with no resources and no possibility of evacuation would rather look stubborn and angry than helpless and trapped. There is dignity in the appearance of willfullness, and in obstinate defiance of authority. It saves face to say, "Screw you all! I don’t want to leave and you can’t make me!" rather than to admit the truth, which is that they couldn't go even if they wanted to.

* * *
Just a thought.

Post a comment

Users who post comments to this blog tacitly agree to observe the News & Record Online Service Terms of Use and Content Submission Agreement. Comments which do not adhere to the terms of this agreement may be removed and the submitter may be banned from further participation. Please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page to report abuse of this feature.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Search

Channels
Font Size
Tools
Question, Comment or Suggestion? Please contact us.

News & Record and NRinteractive

200 E. Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27401 (336) 373-7000 (800) 553-6880
1813 N. Main Street, High Point, NC 27262 (336) 883-4422
203 E. Harris Place, Eden, NC 27288 (336) 627-1781
4213 S. Church Street, Burlington, NC 27215 (336) 449-7064

Copyright (C) 2008 News & Record and Landmark Communications, Inc.