I Understand Where They’re Coming From

Having grown up near the Gulf Coast of Florida, Hurricanes have always been an area of intense interest for me and my family & friends, occupying a top priority each year in August, September, and October. My decision since 2001 to reside adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico in Mexico Beach Florida for a year, to live on a 32’ boat in south Florida for a while in 2002, and relocating here to St. Simons Island for the past 18 months has provided me with the opportunity to become even more intimate with the realities of seasonal storm preparation.

Thankfully, Georgia is in much better shape when it comes to hurricane evacuation and recovery planning than almost every other southern state because of our relatively small coastal populations. Georgia, in its infinite wisdom, has elected to purchase most of the coastal barrier islands over the past 100 years and as a result, commercial and residential development adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean has been severely limited or outright prevented.

Tybee Island, St. Simons Island, Sea Island, and Jekyll Island are the only major Georgia barrier islands with substantial development. There are only a few smaller islands that even have highway connections to the mainland, and fewer still with connections via boat or private airstrip. Glynn County, where Jekyll and St. Simons Islands are located, only has a population of about 75,000 people—a fraction of humanity when compared to South Florida or the panhandle resort areas like Panama City and Destin.

The hurricane evacuation routes leading inland here are well developed. Interstate 16 leading away from Savannah even has built in gates on the southbound exit ramps allowing the state patrol to prevent southbound entry to the interstate during an evacuation—allowing all lanes to safely operate serving northbound traffic.

That said, I find the decision to evacuate our home here to be a difficult issue to address. Since our condo is situated only a couple of feet above sea level in sight of the salt marshes, I am certain that the approach of a category 3 storm will cause me to relocate inland, but I face quite a dilemma when it comes to storms of lower intensity. Tropical Storm Ophelia is our latest concern. Will she strengthen further before making landfall to our south near Jacksonville?

In the back of my mind, a major concern is that of obeying the evacuation order, then finding myself stuck in temporary accommodations for an extended time because the “authorities” refuse to allow residents to return to our homes once the storm has passed. I appreciate the “authorities” desire to protect me from hazardous conditions like downed power lines and flooding, but my home is my castle and I feel that I have a right to occupy and defend MY PROPERTY regardless of what some tin hat dictator says to the contrary.

For this reason I have a certain empathy for the holdouts in New Orleans. A heavy-handed blanket order to evacuate, in some instances, could be considered a bit over the top. What if someone has survived the storm and watched the flood waters dissipate (or never was flooded) and is sitting in their property with a generator, food, water, and a boat to use in acquiring new provisions. Should the government be allowed to force them out of their secure situation—a situation that they planned for and paid in advance to ensure?

I say no, but the Mayor of New Orleans obviously sees things differently as he has issued an order for police to remove the holdouts by force if necessary. The problem with this situation is that if they make you leave and someone vandalizes or otherwise damages your property, the government can’t be held liable for your losses.

I guess it’s a good thing that Janet Reno isn’t still Attorney General or we might see a re-run of the David Koresh/Branch Davidian Texas debacle. Will the NOPD shoot the holdouts or burn them out if they refuse to leave?

I don’t have a good solution for this situation other than to say…Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

What do you think?