Gulf Coast States

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

I don't get it. Unless you live way too close to the beach or have a really poorly built house why would you evacuate? Here we don't mass evacuate, we open inland shelters for those who absolutely need to. (Ex. too close to the beach, mobile home, elderly, scared, sick, etc.)

This quote has been weighing on my mind since Friday given the level of destruction from this Category 2 hurricane. Please don't think I'm picking on you, BabyPink, but I fear it's this kind of nonchalance that led people to stay on Galveston Island and parts of Houston even though they were warned that they could face death by staying. I've only heard them warn people to this extent twice.. Katrina and Ike.. and both hurricanes had massive levels of destruction in highly populated areas. I do hope that if you're ever faced with this (and I surely hope you aren't) that you don't try to ride it out. It's just not worth it.

[SWTXBelle]

The entire island of Galveston is "too close to the beach". You simply cannot make a home that close to the beach that is not liable to damage by wind - or even more deadly, the flooding. Very little of the island is actually protected by the seawall.
That is why there was a MANDATORY evacuation order - everything pointed to a tragedy in the making as Ike came closer. I fear that too many residents thought that this storm would turn at the last minute as so many in the past have done. Many were probably either old timers who thought they had been through the worst, or newcomers who had no knowledge of the 1900 storm, Carla, or the like. The false alarm and nightmare evacuation before Rita also probably lead to many not taking it seriously.
I am really afraid of what they will find as they go through the worst of the island's damage.