Will you leave? 39 percent say they wouldnt evacuate if hurricane were headed our way
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Eloy Morales and Marcy DeLaCruz don’t live in the same city and they probably don’t even know each other.
But both have a common goal: getting out of harm’s way if a major hurricane threatens the Middle Texas Coast.
DeLaCruz, a 56-year-old Cuero resident, didn’t hesitate when asked whether she’d evacuate if ordered to do so by city and county officials.
“I’d do it for the safety of myself and my family,” she said.
Morales, a 38-year-old Victoria resident, said he’s evacuated before in the face of an approaching storm.
“We went through one a few years back,” he said. “I don’t plan on going through another one.”
The six-month hurricane season begins Sunday and emergency personnel are concerned people won’t leave when ordered to evacuate.
Thirty-nine percent of coastal Texans said they would not evacuate if a major hurricane was headed for the Texas Gulf Coast, according to a report from Allstate Insurance Co.
Most believed they would be safe at home and others felt the need to stay and protect their belongings from looters.
“Unfortunately, it’s not surprising,” said Jeb Lacey, Victoria County’s emergency management coordinator. “Since 2005, we’ve seen significant increases each year from those who say, even when ordered, they would not evacuate their homes or businesses in the face of catastrophic hurricane.”
Failing to heed an evacuation order would be a mistake, he said.
Medical care and law enforcement may not be available. Food and water could become scarce and electricity nonexistent for weeks.
“It would not be a good thing to be on your own during a strong storm,” Lacey said.
While there is no penalty for failing to heed a mandatory evacuation order, County Judge Don Pozzi had a word of advice for those who ignore it.
“We would hope that the god of their choice, whoever that may be, would watch over them and protect them and keep them safe,” he said.
Pozzi and Mayor Will Armstrong, who would jointly decide whether to order an evacuation, estimated only 50 to 60 percent of the residents did so in 2005. Category 5 Hurricane Rita appeared headed for Port O’Connor then, prompting the only mandatory evacuation order ever issued for Victoria County.
They agreed that anyone who refuses to leave should be prepared to suffer the consequences of their decision.
“Obviously, we’re not going to force people out of the county,” Pozzi said. “But the concern is for the safety of the citizens.”
Armstrong said a decision to order an evacuation is made based on the best information available. He’s hopeful that will be enough to convince people to leave.
“We can order and we can strongly recommend,” Armstrong said. “But that’s as far as I’m willing to say we would go.”
David Tewes is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6515 or dtewes@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
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Where do people go? When Rita was predicted to hit, all the hotels in Texas believed to be in the storm's path were booked. Where are people supposed to go, another over-crowded convention center? No thanks.
Hotels in Corpus Christi were forced to evacuate even though the hurricane wasn't going to hit there. All of those people were headed north and west also.
It is very unrealistic to expect that we can have safe evacuation of everyone along the coast when the strike zone keeps changing.
May 29, 2008 at 11:01 p.m.I would have to say it really depends on what the rest of my family will do. For Claudette we all camped out at my sisters house. When we had the hurricane scare for Katrina we all went to the valley to be out of harms way. That is just me though. I would like to know that no matter what happens to me or my belongings i can have peace of mind that my immediate family and i are all together. It's all just common sense though. It depends on the category of the hurricane. If you know a category 3 is coming you might not want to stick around! In that case it may be better to be far away where you don't have to worry about how long you will not have access to electricity and what not.
May 29, 2008 at 9:14 a.m.