Wildman

So are you saying ... there are human shells? Hahahaha!
Maybe you can explain this "Conch's" thing a bit more.
I'm laughing.

I am not surprised that some people stayed in the Keys.
But I am blown away that roughly 10,000 people did this.
Just insane.

Here´s a good explanation: https://www.conchtourtrain.com/conch.html

The Keys are now The Conch Republic. Formed as a Republic due tin the INS blockade placed on the mainland in the mid 80's. War was formally declared in CONgress, and a surrender followed 5 min later. Then the Conch Republic requested aid to repair all of the war damages that the blockade had inflicted. You should look up the flag of the ConchRepublic, You'll love it!!!

Don't exaggerate, it was one minute later -- History of the Conch Republic

They don't teach this in history class any more.

Determining whether a person deserves to be saved is contentious, difficult and time-consuming. In the ER, we gave up trying to make these determinations, and worked on a "Save 'em all, let God sort it out" basis.

I'll get back to the Conch Republic in a minute ...

First. I said there were going to be "recrminations" about why those weather forecast models were wrong about Irma. The fun starts now ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies...ocid=spartandhp

News is quoting this "weather prediction mistake" as a $150 billion error. OUCH! That kind of accusation stings ... just a little bit.

I agree with other comments here - that overall the track predictions for Irma were pretty good. They only thing they missed was the exact place where the storm would turn north. Unfortunately, that small mistake has a big effect on where the storm goes in Florida.

Really ... Florida should be celebrating. But any time that big money gets involved ... it's not a picnic.

I'm quoting from dusty archived brain hard drive that is heavily fractured. Give me some slack for being in error of 4 minutes....

The Conch Republic flags can be found on EBay, I think.

Now back to the Conch's ...

I guess I didn't realize that these people have their own identity - not to mention their own flag . :-)

I guess all I can say is this. I have driven on the Keys as far as Key Largo. That was a long time ago. But it's a pretty long drive to get out there (never made it all the way to Key West. Maybe some day in the future). Key Largo is OK on a nice day ... not spectacular. But OK. I remember some rocks, a few blades of grass, and some palm trees. I don't remember any piece of land higher than about 8-10 feet above sea level - if that. I can't even begin to imagine being at a place like that during a tropical storm, let alone a major hurricane. I guess I must not have the mindset of a Conch.

This time the Conch's got lucky. Real lucky.
But if they keep this "I won't go" mentality, sooner or later the US Government is going to need a few thousand body bags for these folks.

If the Conch Republic really want to sit out these storms, they need to invest in a special Disaster Safety Shelter made from high strength reinforced concrete - somewhere at Key West.

I understand that the Cajun Navy is already sending supplies to Florida. You Floridians need to remember the following about Cajuns:

1. Never get between a Cajun and his beer.
2. Never get between a Cajun and the nearest bathroom/outhouse.
3. Never put your hands or fingers too close to a Cajun's mouth. Cajun's make better lovers because they will eat darn near anything!
4. Eat a Cajun's prepared meal with lots of beer. Ask what the meal was after you've eaten.

Free transportation was available I believe. Free shelters on the mainland were available I believe. Free donations of clothing and food are coming in. Money to start the repairs and rebuild is coming in. Sure, that would be rough living, and it would really suck, but it would be living. And temporary. Things will get better.

If they're so sick that they can't be moved, how does "So sick they can't be moved, AND under ten feet of water, AND with a demolished yacht in the rubble pile that used to be their house, AND with no electricity, water, or sewer, AND without functional medical infrastructure like hospitals and ambulances" play out for them?