Why Don't They Leave?

 I saw it on Facebook and Twitter during  and after Florence. Heck, basically after every hurricane since I've had Facebook and Twitter.
   You want to know why they don't leave?
   I can give you a few reasons:
They live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to go anywhere. If they do leave, they can't afford to go back.
   Their car won't get them out of town, and if it does, it might not make it back.
   They're not worried about the hurricane. Really, the first time I had to deal with an oncoming tropical thing, I looked around. Nobody else seemed worried, the neighbours weren't boarding everything up. The news was talking about the system falling apart before it hit land. I got up and went to work in the morning, we went out and started and about an hour and a half into our day, they called us in. 
   The wind was picking up, and instead of falling apart, Claudette was picking up strength and headed for us. They held us hostage for 2 hours before they sent us home with instructions that we were going to get called back in after the storm went through.
   I get home to find a child having an allergy attack, so now I have to go to the store in ever increasing winds to get some Benadryl. I did get to see a shopping cart that hadn't been corralled go speeding across the HEB parking lot, hit the concrete at the edge of the parking lot, flip into the air and land in the middle of the street. Then I made it home, and we prayed. After the worst of the storm passed, I went outside and got to look up and see the most beautiful blue sky, surrounded by clouds in every direction.
   After Katrina devastated New Orleans 2 years later, another hurricane was brewing and they had projected it to come towards us. How serious were the projections? We got paid early, they said non essential personnel could leave town. 
   We were lucky. We had someone in Arlington, Texas that said, we've got room.
   We packed up the essentials, and headed out. 6 hour drive took us about 8 hours. Traffic was horrendous. (Katrina HAD made some believers)
   We didn't get hit, but it still took us a month to recover from the damage it did to our money. A friend of mine had started north, and made it 30 miles before his car broke down. That's after spending $200+ on a hotel room in San Antonio that he now couldn't get to. 
   Why don't they leave?
   Sometimes, they just can't.

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