Why Do People Refuse to Evacuate for a Hurricane Threat?

Posted: October 5, 2022 12:37 pm

Many Reasons Convince People to Stay Home and Face Danger

It’s not always a matter of choosing to evacuate for some people facing the threat of a hurricane. According to information posted at npr.org, sometimes the choice is between two unacceptable alternatives. The primary example given in the article is a woman who works as a wildlife rehabilitator who decided to stay put after evacuation orders to continue caring for about 20 animals.

For other people, the South Tampa Bay resident would probably recommend relocating to higher ground, but in the case of Sharon Charles, her biggest concern was the feral colony of cats she was rehabilitating in her backyard. Charles felt that her duty of care was clearly taking responsibility for the health and safety of the cats instead of personal safety. Evacuating the cats generated too many logistical problems in the available time, and releasing the cats back into the wild just before a devastating storm was just too cruel.

Other Reasons People Choose to Stay

Many reasons for staying in place aren’t as altruistic, but people feel their reasons are equally valid. Some of the most common reasons for refusing to evacuate before a hurricane include:

• Pride of Residence
  Many people brag about surviving multiple monster storms and conveniently forget what it’s like to experience true uncertainty about where they’ll stay and obtain food and water. Memories of what others suffered are short, and many people survive some hurricanes relatively unscathed. It’s easy to fall into the trap of disregarding official recommendations.
  
  Many people repeat the line that they were born in the area and want to die there, but that might be covering up embarrassing reasons for refusing to evacuate. As a concerned neighbor, it’s important to check on the status of elderly or disabled neighbors.
  
• Disabilities
  It’s easy to think that sensible people would certainly evacuate rather than face real-world dangers, but people often suffer from disabilities that they don’t want others to know about. Some simply think the logistics of moving are too complex, and many people have multiple pets that they refuse to abandon. Some don’t have transportation or friends that they feel they can ask for help.
  
• People Approaching End-of-Life Scenarios
  Many elderly people with chronic illnesses willingly embrace the idea of dying in their homes in familiar circumstances, but there’s nothing familiar about spending your last moments fighting flood waters.
  
• Critical Life-saving Equipment Difficult to Move
  Some people refuse to evacuate based on the installation of complex medical equipment needed for survival.
  
• Language or Cultural Barriers
  Many immigrants and their families fear being tossed into a cauldron of emotionally charged people when they have trouble communicating in English and suspect that other cultural barriers will arise during long, enforced evacuations.
  
• Illiteracy
  Florida has the third-highest state rating of illiteracy with an average literacy rate of just 80.3%. It’s easy for isolated people to know nothing about an approaching hurricane. That’s why it’s critical to check on your neighbors because you might be the only person who suspects someone is living in any given home.

Some people are defiant, some have too much pride to accept help and some just can’t afford to evacuate. Some people are too scared to abandon their homes fearing that they’ll never see them again. Millions of Florida residents were ordered to evacuate, but thousands of people chose to ignore the order and tough things out in their homes.

Reasons Why Older People Refuse to Evacuate

Many of the elderly refuse to evacuate because of misconceptions and bad advice. These reasons include:

• Concerns About Costs
  Many elderly live month to month on their Social Security or pension, and they might be unable to afford the costs associated with evacuating. Transportation, food and shelter can be expensive or simply out of some people’s means.
  
• Fear of Strangers
  Some elderly people and even not-so-elderly people fear being forced into social situations with strangers. Many would prefer to take their chances with the storm than risk robbery, bullying or complaints about their behavior or personal hygiene from strangers.
  
• Risks of Contracting a Disease
  After Covid-19, worrying about communicable diseases makes some sense, especially for the elderly with weakened immune systems. The fears also include seniors afraid that nobody will recognize their own health needs.
  
• Concerns About Chronic Illness
  Some people protect their personal privacy at all costs and refuse evacuation because they might be forced to explain their problems with HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, kidney or bladder problems and other embarrassing conditions. Chronic illness might require a disturbing regimen of treatments that you don’t want to share with a stranger. Diabetes, kidney disease and cancer are examples of these types of chronic conditions.
  
• Fear of Social Isolation
  Many people don’t want to face social isolation along with a hurricane’s dangers and threats. Social isolation is a big problem for older adults who have lived alone for a long time. Many no longer want to be forced into social activities, and many don’t speak English well. Many of these types also lack the financial resources to evacuate.
  
• Mobility issues
  Many people have severe mobility issues and don’t trust strangers to provide necessary assistance. Many elderly disabled people simply prefer to get around on their own as a matter of pride.
  
• Trust in Past Success
  You’ll hear many people who refuse to evacuate claiming that their past experience with hurricanes wasn’t too bad. Every hurricane is different, and you might experience totally different challenges. You’ve also grown older and might not be as capable as you were in the past.

More than 400,000 households in Florida speak in a patois of Hatian Creole, so language barriers are definitely barriers to evacuation for many people. Floridians also speak French, Chinese, Russian, Tagalog, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Italian and other languages.

Why You Shouldn’t Judge Your neighbors

There are always people who refuse to evacuate their homes, but you shouldn’t dismiss these people as naive or wrongheaded. Many have legitimate reasons for staying in place, and many homeowners don’t feel that they’re capable of evacuating due to age, physical disabilities or lack of funds. That’s why it’s important to check on neighbors, try to overcome any evacuation objections and language or cultural barriers and make at least a minimal effort to get people to safety.

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