Ike's Wrath or Human Idiocy

I have to say, that from the relative safety of the Upper Midwest, all this hurricane stuff is pretty theoretical. We NEVER get winds of over 100 mph for sustained periods of times. We NEVER receive 7-10" of rain in a day. We do occasionally get tornadoes, but they are brief and fleeting. The pure sustained destructive power of a hurricane is something that I have never experianced in my life.

However, I do consider my self intelligent enough to know that if people with advanced radar and degrees much higher then my own tell me to "Get out or face probable death" that I am going to get the heck on up out of there. I swear humans have a death wish. This is a quote from an article on CNN. "Galveston had ordered evacuation of the island, but City Manager Steve LeBlanc said about 40 percent of the city's 57,523 residents chose to stay. "It's unfortunate that the warnings that we sent out were not heeded," he said"

WHAT........40 percent! Are you joking. This is an ISLAND that is just above sea level.

I am sick and tired of my tax dollars going to pay for the rescue and rebuilding of people and areas that do not deserve to be. You want to build you house on an island in a hurricane prone area, fine, free country. But do not come whining to the government to help rebuild your home. If you avoid the "mandatory" evacuation, fine, but you better be ready for the bill when the Coast Guard Chopper has to come grab you off the roof. Nothing like the idea that you might get stuck with bill for helicopter fuel use to get you to heed that evacuation order. Especially considering that the Coast Guard HH-60 uses 16.56 lbs of fuel per MINUTE. By my not so advanced math, that means roughly 15 dollars a minute in fuel costs.

We need to take care of our people, but we also need to reward people for making smart decisions. I am not saying we let these people die out there. I am just saying that there needs to be logical consequences for your actions.