As Hurricane Milton approaches many cities were largely deserted but some people decided to shelter in place
Most left when they were told to. But some chose to stay, even though officials warned Hurricane Milton would turn their homes into coffins.
Along Florida’s Gulf coast, where millions of people were urged to get out of harm’s way, cities were largely deserted on Wednesday afternoon as time ran out to evacuate. Those who remained were advised to shelter in place as best they could. Others who fled spoke of their dread at what, if anything, they would return to once the storm had passed.
…
William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, told islanders who planned to stay to write their names, dates of birth and social security numbers on their limbs with Sharpies to help identify their bodies after the storm.
A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.
“Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast.”
“No,” says the preacher. “I have faith in the Lord. He will save me.”
Still the waters rise. Now the preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.
“Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee’s gonna break any minute.”
Once again, the preacher is unmoved. “I shall remain. The Lord will see me through.”
After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.
“Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance.”
Once again, the preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.
And, predictably, he drowns.
A pious man, the preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, “Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn’t you deliver me from that flood?”
God shakes his head. “What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”
And the Lord said, I sent ye a sign. A sign that said evacuate, and ye didn’t listen.
God is a pirate?
Would explain the collection basket
I adore you. Haven’t laughed this hard in a while.
🎶 Yar har fiddle dee dee, being ficticious is alright with me, do what you want 'cause a lie is me, you are a moron!
(you are a moron~)
Yaaaaay! 🎶
Fewer Republican voters in Florida, got it.
As morbid as it is to think about, this was was the first thought I had.
Just like Covid anti-vaxers. It’s a win for society.
Ok, but when they are standing on their own roofs waving at helicopters, I want rescuers to just wave back. Let their gods come down and risk life and limb to save their stubborn asses.
Maybe the Oklahoma Gov could send them some bibles to help them pray
I volunteer to chuck bibles at dummies’ heads from a cool helicopter
send them some bibles
Ya mean those cheap gold colored Chyna bibles?
Chyna bibles
Hey man, Joan Laurer had nothing to do with this.
I think the helicopter people shouldn’t only be waving.
An additional thumbs up could deliver so much inspiration and motivation!
They could drop down some fliers that said “thoughts and prayers”
Drop a Bible on their heads
…… you are heartless
Am I? I care about the lives of people who help people. The people who obstinately refuse to leave when given ample warning because they think they know better are not deserving of the sacrifices made by emergency personnel.
this is why I hate liberals. So high all the fucking time. People have circumstances, and maybe sometimes can’t afford a starbucks every day or to leave their houses. More than likely in america, they were failed by their education system. Yet you still revel in their suffering.
This is either a strawman argument or a complete misunderstanding on your part. Given that conservatives are biologically incapable of being honest, I’m going with the former.
No one is suggesting that people without the means to evacuate should suffer. No one. Not a single fucking person.
Every word uttered by a conservative is either deception or manipulation.
Just because someone is talking poorly about liberals doesn’t make them a conservative.
There is a whole other side of politics to the left of liberal. For example, socialists, communists anarchists etc.
Thinking liberal=“the left” is American propaganda. Liberals are basically centrists.
You were referring to another commenter as a “liberal” in the exact same way conservatives refer to everyone left of Trump as a liberal. You are transparently bad at this.
I wasn’t doing anything. You are confusing me with another person.
For the record I’m probably what most would consider “a leftist”. I’m absolutely not not a conservative, but also absolutely not a liberal.
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Im not a conservative at all actually. But suppose that the people not evacuating had the means to and were dumb as fuck. Eating popcorn while watching them suffer instead of praying or wishing them well is monstrous.
Im not a conservative…
This sounds like deception.
suppose that the people not evacuating had the means to…
You are moving the goalpost. What happened to all those evil “liberals” laughing at those who couldn’t afford to flee? Why does your story of these imaginary evil liberals change so easily? Could it be because you are just throwing things at the wall to see what will stick? That’s the most common conservative strategy for attacking non-conservatives this year, so that makes sense.
Eating popcorn while watching them suffer instead of praying…
More conservative strawman nonsense. Who is doing that? Is the scary godless non-conservative in the room with us right now?
Every word uttered by a conservative is deception or manipulation. Your comment thread here seems to be an illustration of that.
Not heartless at all. If anything, they’re respecting the religious freedoms of these suicidal-death-cult members.
You cannot assume that all the people unable to evacuate were obstinate religiously minded conservatives. Very few people have the means to leave their residence when the time comes.
Not everyone owns a vehicle. Not everyone can walk their way out of the path of a storm. What about all the people left in nursing homes. Katrina saw a lot of people forced to stay. Unless there are no homeless people in that section of Florida, I’m ptlretty sure there a lot more forced to stay than those who choose to stay.
Letting everyone die isn’t a good way to get people to learn and change their minds.
It’s perfectly okay to have sympathy for those who have no means of escape.
That’s not who was expressing their desire to stay due to some belief that their deity has a duty to protect them.
In Venice, about 40 miles (64km) to the south, Sherry Hall and her family decided to stay in their house several blocks from the ocean, despite many of their neighbors leaving amid warnings of a storm surge up to 15ft. Her husband, Tommy, prepared the property with shutters and sandbags, and she said they had generators, portable air conditioning units, and plenty of water and food to be self-sufficient.
Let me know how well the portable AC & generators work in 15ft of water, Sherry.
survivor bias.
They’ve probably done this a dozen times and made it.
Well, time for them to make a saving throw.
“several blocks from the ocean”
I’m sure that’s enough, right?
One of my good friends lives in Tampa and his mom took the car and bailed while he was taking out the dogs. He’s stuck at home this very moment and I only hope he’s safe
What the fuck
Sounds like he needs to cut that monster out of his life.
I hope your friend is ok and able to let you know.
See, that’s why I never let my mom near the car keys.
This is why I have my own house and cars lol
See what Florida does to people?
I wonder if they’ll ever consider that an almighty god could, you know, NOT send the hurricane instead.
The democrats control the weather and sent the hurricane.
Odd then that they didn’t send rain when CA was burning or hail on J6 or some such.
But climate change is not real and man can’t affect the weather.
And apparently the Democratic party is more powerful than their god.
So then their god can stop the hurricane and the democrats, right? 🤣
It’s god way to test our faith
Religion is great like that.
The two choices of why are always:
[ ] Punishment [ ] Test faith
I thought it was enough to not be a murder, a thief or a cheater. Well, you also shouldn’t sell your soul to the devil.
Once you’ve sold it, no storm will save you. If you haven’t sold it, you don’t need a storm.
I think they’re so scared of god and think they have to be tested, because they already failed and have sinned by being envious, hateful or greedy.
Then how would he punish the gay people?
By making the bottoms attracted to other bottoms and the tops attracted to other tops I think. He seems to get a chuckle out of that.
Maybe like this??
“Gods calling me!” Means the same thing as “I’m stupid and think I’m important.”
Reminds me of the Parable of the Drowning Man
A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.
“Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast.”
“No,” says the preacher. “I have faith in the Lord. He will save me.”
Still the waters rise. Now the preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.
“Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee’s gonna break any minute.”
Once again, the preacher is unmoved. “I shall remain. The Lord will see me through.”
After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.
“Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance.”
Once again, the preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.
And, predictably, he drowns.
A pious man, the preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, “Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn’t you deliver me from that flood?”
God shakes his head. “What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”
William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, told islanders who planned to stay to write their names, dates of birth and social security numbers on their limbs with Sharpies to help identify their bodies after the storm.
Ooookay, that’s super grim.
Tampa mayor on CNN, verbatim: “And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die.”
Whether she’s personally roaming the zone with an AK-47 to see to it, is not clear.
She’ll unleash 2000 alligators just to be sure.
Is an aligatoricaine more dangerous than a sharknado?
…i’ll just take Bearphoon.
That’s hard to say…let’s go with “gatorcane”.
I choose to believe she is
She’s cleaning up Tampa’s litter problem… with a vengeance.
That is one of the most practical suggestions I’ve ever seen.
They could tape their documents to their bodies, just wrap enough tape around. Sharpie may wash off.
Yeah I think that was said for dramatic effect. I hope it worked, because I am not confident in permanent marker on skin submerged lasting very long
My cell number stayed on my toddler~runner’s back while she played in the water features in Central Park, but after a soapy tub at the hotel it was pretty faded.
I’ve had sharpie marks last on my hand after several handwashings trying to get it off.
Copied from a top level comment I made about the same quote:
This isn’t a new suggestion. I remember this being told to people staying in spite of evac orders for a previous nasty storm, iirc it was Key West hearing it that time. It scared the shit out of some people back then and convinced them to leave, sadly the more times you hear something like that the less impact it has. And your neighbor managed to ride it out last time they said that…
That what FREEDOM means.
If you die, you die. Might as well make it easier to identify your corpse.
Good for them and no worries. Anything bad happens to them and we have thoughts and prayers ready and waiting to take care of it.
100%, I have faith Jesus will protect them, or if the worst happens, help them rebuild.
No need to send my tax money to trash states that just insult me.
Why would their god send a murderous hurricane then protect them from it? Feels like mafia tactics to make people rely on it.
P.s. the second ‘it’ refers to their god
“WITNESS ME!”
“That’s a nice megachurch there. Be a real shame if some thing where to happen to it.”
"That’s a nice megachurch there. Be a real shame if some thing where to happen to it
Interesting thoughts…Is Clearwater in the path of this storm?
Looks like it.
It made me think of that too. I remember hearing it on the West Wing though.
I feel bad for these people because I have a feeling that they are staying not because of religion, politics or any other reason other than … they can’t afford to do anything else. I know a few people in Florida and from what I’ve gathered from many people who live down there, life is expensive and it got even more expensive in the past decade.
Many people can’t afford to evacuate. No car, no cash, nowhere to go… plenty of people like this exist.
But that’s not these people. No, this article addresses those who, in the face of a very real and very deadly storm, choose to believe in a wish-granting invisible sky wizard instead.
Evolution is cruel, but fair…
But here’s a bedtime story for the “faithful”:
A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.
“Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast.”
“No,” says the preacher. “I have faith in the Lord. He will save me.”
Still the waters rise. Now the preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.
“Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee’s gonna break any minute.”
Once again, the preacher is unmoved. “I shall remain. The Lord will see me through.”
After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.
“Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance.”
Once again, the preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.
And, predictably, he drowns.
A pious man, the preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, “Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn’t you deliver me from that flood?”
God shakes his head. “What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”Sleep tight.
Ah, I was gonna post that joke but you beat me to it.
Yeah … I’m as anti religious as the next guy … I’m indigenous so I’ve seen a lot of “Christian love” to know that these people are probably religious nuts.
But I also know desperation and being cornered into a life you have no control over … especially if your life leads you into a dangerous situation and you have no money, no wealth, no options and no hope.
I know a lot of proud people that would never admit to anyone that they can’t afford to save themselves and they’d rather raise their hands and praise the lord than admit defeat.
I may not share the same beliefs as these people and chances are they might not appreciate me either … but it doesn’t mean I’ll give up my sense of empathy for my fellow man.
It’s wild seeing a message of intelligence, empathy and compassion getting downvoted, while several other messages condemning all religious folks everywhere get solidly positive responses. I’m strongly atheist myself, but only sith deal in absolutes… Or maybe I’m just fortunate like you, to have met a real variety of people in my life, so I know that there’s a possibility that there is more to someone than just what I read about them on the internet. Either way, I like your take and I appreciate that you voiced it here.
When I heard this story, the man wasn’t just being obstinate, every time he was offered rescue, he turned it down because he was sure someone else needed the help more than he did. It’s a minor difference in words, but a major difference in the tone of the story.
You’re completely missing out on how many religious people want to die, there’s a reason virtually every major religion say suicide makes you go to the bad place.
If you legitimately and completely believe in an ever lasting paradise, any type of life will be disappointing.
If they die it’s just “god calling me home”.
It’s why religions are so dangerous. If someone believe in an eternal afterlife, throwing your life just means skipping to the good part. Literally any action can be justified by saying the god(s) desire it for whatever reason. Even an ineffable one.
“The Lord will save me” ones want to die, it’s passive suicide to get around the punishment for it
it’s almost like it was designed that way to make people throw their lives away for a ruler and to bare the misery created by aristocracy. it’s classic good cop bad cop the church tells you it’s going to be alright just keep your head down and keep working it will all be over soon oh and btw gives us a 10% tip on your way out. While the elite torment you making you work more and live less.
I think it’s more that they want to prove to themselves God exists, because if he does, than clearly, he would save them through miracle. Arrogant bastards they are, they think God will personally help them out. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.
If that is the case, they should say so and seek assistance. Not lie about it.
Their problem is they’ve already convinced themselves…
There are other reasons too. I was told by someone that they know a person who couldn’t evacuate because they run a cat rescue. You can’t leave rescue animals behind, but you also can’t take 10 of them (or however many) with you.
One of my friends is stuck right now because his mom took the car and bailed while he was taking out the dogs. So there’s also that…
Pretty sure your friend could have found someone to give them a ride, including emergency services.
Yeah, I think religious explanations are often given when someone can’t tell or can’t face why something is happening. When people tell me they’re doing something out of religious conviction, I usually wonder what the real reasons are.
I don’t know, I think you may underestimate the depth of religious convictions in some areas of the country.
Yeah there are definitely some earnestly religious people.
I just think that material circumstances, group identity, social status and things like that are what determine the behavior of social primates. Religion is a convenient explanation because it makes you look upstanding and can justify absolutely anything, really.
I think that the modernist and materialist interpretation of society is very lacking and outdated. Humans are not purely rational creatures, and incredibly counterintuitive behavior, up to and including massive movements of millions of people contrary to their material interests and the interests of their own social advancement, has been and is caused by religious mania.
We’re definitely capable of some amazingly counterintuitive behavior - things like moral panics, groups who make high risk travel, or high control cult groups. But again I’m not convinced that religion is causing that. A lot of those things have non religious examples as well - large parts of the cultural revolution sounds like a secular mania to me.
I still suspect these sorts of things are just human behavior. Even if we finally cast off religion for good, I fear we’d still see all the same things happening just with different explanations.
large parts of the cultural revolution sounds like a secular mania to me.
I mean, I’d include that in the list of “Things that have weak material triggers and are largely outbursts of irrationality based on abstract beliefs”
I would imagine that it might also be that maybe it’s all they ever known, and so t know where else to go. I know that’s how I’d feel if it were to be me in their shoes.
Florida is dirt fucking cheap COL wise.
William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, told islanders who planned to stay to write their names, dates of birth and social security numbers on their limbs with Sharpies to help identify their bodies after the storm.
This isn’t a new suggestion. I remember this being told to people staying in spite of evac orders for a previous nasty storm, iirc it was Key West hearing it that time. It scared the shit out of some people back then and convinced them to leave, sadly the more times you hear something like that the less impact it has. And your neighbor managed to ride it out last time they said that…
I don’t know if they ever said it beforehand, but it’s been a very prominent bit of information ever since Katrina for obvious reasons.
In 1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood released their single Two Tribes. It’s about that perennial eighties trope of the imminent planet-ending nuclear apocalypse we were all hanging about for at the time. The track and remixes contain spoken samples from at least two UK government publications regarding what to do when the bombs came - it mentions id-ing corpses in a similar manner. There was a booklet sent out to every house, from the government, called “Protect and Survive” It’s hilariously optimistic about my chances of survival.
I know of that, but didn’t know about Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s song. Raymond Briggs’ book/animated film When the Wind Blows was also a response to Protect and Survive and there’s a Young Ones episode that mocks it as well.
When the Wind Blows is a perfect response to Protect and Survive… I simply never connected the dots as a kid. I don’t know about the Young Ones getting in on the act. Gonna have a look for that later. Every now and again I stop to think whether it might’ve been best if someone had pushed the button and called time on the eighties - and humanity as we know it. I can’t believe we dodged the nuclear apocalypse (so far) and still ended-up squabbling and artificially divided.
The Young Ones episode is called Bomb and the manual is directly referenced and I believe the text they read from it is real too.
And it’s on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKc_mrRhfII
Geo-blocked… but it’s on iplayer so will try and get that working instead. I’ve been told US / commercial-station versions sometimes miss out the band. Don’t know if is true - but looking forward to seeing Dexy’s on this episode. I have a copy of Protect and Survive. 50p cost and a foreword dated May, 1980. Page 24: “If a death occurs while you are confined to the fall-out room place the body in another room and cover it as securely as possible. Attach an identification.”
It used to be shown in the U.S. on MTV in the 80s. They kept the bands, but cut the episodes down for time so they could show commercials and occasionally cut out the jokes they thought Americans would get super offended by. There’s a bit in the episode Party where a cop tries to arrest someone and they turn around and the cop says, “oh sorry, I thought you were a N–.” I think that’s some pretty funny commentary about racist cops, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t have played well in 1980s America.
Also, I had them all taped from the MTV broadcasts except the episode Nasty, which I didn’t see until years later when I could buy commercial tapes. I’m guessing the fact that it was about video nasties made it too over-the-top at the time even though you never actually see footage from one.
Edit: They also used to show Monty Python’s Flying Circus but they put a content warning beforehand, done in the style of a Gilliam animation that told you to not watch if you’re offended. But come on, it’s Python we’re talking about here, not a Frankie Boyle comedy routine.
The Lord also gave ya’ll legs and the ability to move… Maybe put a little faith in that, too.
Faithful at the Pearly Gates: “Lord, why didn’t you help me?”
God: “I had people send you evacuation orders, wasn’t that enough?”
