After Katrina, Lt. Gen. Honoré was complaining that local governments and politicians only see the expense of preparing for a worst-case scenario, never how much money and lives it will save by having plans and people ready in place to help. He said they keep saying, "We're okay, we're okay... oh, sh*t! HELP!" THEN the machine has to be cranked up to get that help going. And in the meantime, 15,000 to 20,000 people were packed into the NOLA Superdome with inadequate food, not enough generator fuel, no water purification system, and overflowing flush toilets (no chemical toilets), topped with a leaking roof, and wading/sleeping in raw sewage. Meanwhile, a big bunch of school buses were parked and full of water; how many people could they have taken out?

Almost 2,000 people died from Katrina.

For Irene, NOAA predicted a hurricane from the info they had. City governments decided to be proactive and give evacuation orders and shut down the transportation system.

So far, 14 people have died from Irene.

You simply can't have it both ways. You can't give the word to evacuate when it looks bad at the point where you have time to do something about it, and then rescind it in the middle of the storm.

If the warning is given when it looks like it's going to be bad, and all the people have to do is go home and unpack their suitcases when the storm fades out at the last minute, why is that such a bad thing?

If people want absolute guarantees before they will evacuate, they're just plain stupid. And if they get complacent because they've gone through the routine a dozen times and nothing serious happened, so they stay, they're still stupid. But these are the same idiots who stay, get scared in the middle of the storm when their roof peels off, and start screaming for help from the same people they thumbed their noses at the day before.

The generous people who have been going in and risking their lives to rescue idiots who refuse to pay attention really need to stop doing it. Spread the word: If you want to stay and die, you have that right; but don't call for help, it won't be coming. You are responsible for your own decisions, good or bad.

Like Charles Dickens said, "If he be like to die he had better do it and decrease the surplus population".

Unfortunately, they keep their kids and pets with them, and they die, too.

Sue
Albert Einstein: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."