With Hurricane Helene and Milton passing through the United States in the span of two weeks, the question of if people are getting properly evacuated was brought to many people’s minds. If one were to look at different social media platforms, it would become clear how disastrous these two hurricanes were, not just from the damage of the hurricane itself. Many people were not able to evacuate, even some who were in line to get directly hit. While it may seem senseless to stay, it seems like most may not have thought about why people would stay in such imminent danger. While there was a small group of people who were staying because they thought they would be fine, that was not the majority. The answer to all of this is the cost.
Most gas stations surrounding the area where Hurricane Milton was meant to hit were completely out of gasoline. Even if one was able to get gasoline to escape, all roads available were filled with unavoidable traffic. Some of this traffic was as long as 30 or more miles long. Next, the evacuees would need to find somewhere to temporarily stay. Obviously, hotels are the answer, but the problem was all nearby hotel rooms were filled up and did not have extra space.
One may think that instead of driving they should get on an airplane to escape, as that would have better options for hotels as well as less traffic. Of course, this was also an issue. Similar to other natural disaster events, airlines tried to make a profit on evacuees by inflating their airplane tickets, leaving the tickets to the people who had the money. While buying tickets the day of the flight will cost more, this is not normal. This is not uncommon to see companies like these price gouge in times where they know people are desperate and in need of escape.
Another reason people may not have been able to escape properly is because of their jobs. After Hurricane Helene hit, some CEOs went online to blame their staff instead of taking accountability. A quote from Gerald O’Connor, president of Impact Plastics, said, “The findings are that employees were told to leave the plant at least 45 minutes before the gigantic force of the flood hit the industrial park.” Even if they were able to leave as soon as they were told, it would have been nearly impossible for them to properly evacuate. Six workers passed away because of this. There were many posts on social media sites like Reddit talking about how their job will fire them if they leave to evacuate. For example, a person in Southwest Florida who was in the path of Hurricane Milton who worked for retail management was not able to prepare properly. They said, “I want to leave but I can’t risk not having a home and then getting fired for job abandonment.”
Despite experts stating, “If people stay, they will not survive,” they did not think about how people can escape. Incidents like this happen with every natural disaster event, but the question is why it keeps happening. Although both hurricanes have passed, there will still be long-lasting damage to survivors, both mentally and physically.
