I'm perplexed about those Floridians who had the capacity and ability to leave

[Sancho]

50. We have lived in Clearwater for 30 years...

...and left the house for extended evacuations 3 times during about a dozen hurricanes. The forecasting has gotten a little better, but leaving is more difficult and expensive than ever. We've been in the house when a big tree fell on us (2001 in a no name storm with no public notice to leave) and also though numerous flood/power outage events.

We are in Ga now. During Irma, we ended up in SC. We also had reservations for hotels in different locations that we cancelled.

It is NOT easy, even if you have resources.

1.) Older people (like us) don't do well traveling for all the medical equipment and pet issues that you can imagine. Even vacations take planning. Throwing stuff in the car and going all night in a traffic jam with a pet is really tough. I'm sure it is similar with kids. We have friends who have limited mobility who stayed in Tampa. They are stuck there now with no power.

2.) We have lots of experience making reservations at multiple places (refundable and pet friendly) in case the hurricane goes a different way (it always does), and I still had to spend a lot of time on the computer and phone to cover the bases. In this case, the original forecast was up the West coast (reservation for Orlando), then it shifted to Tampa Bay (reservation in Pensacola), then it looked major (time to leave Florida). I gassed up at 5 am the day before any official warning, and there was already a line. Stations were out of gas before any evacuation order.

3.) I had to leave work BEFORE there were official closures and evacuations (pissing off the office) in order to miss the inevitable parking lots known as Florida highways. In hindsight I was not brilliant. Actually, it's experience.

4.) The house and boat and property are expendable, but no one wants to lose their stuff. EVERYONE down here have rules about "preparation" for the property, insurance, etc. For several days before this hurricane we were inundated by the city and sailing center (a small dinghy) and HOA and power company and insurance company about all the rules and regulations. Again, all I had to do is ignore work for 2 days, and get ready. Remember, we are good at this!

We left early before the evacuation notices, and we have friends/family out of state. It was a long drive, our hosts have to put us up for a week. Power is still out and who knows when we will be able to return and assess the house.

Yes, some people are just stupid and irresponsible. Others believe the anti-science hype. For a lot of folks, it is just harder than buying some batteries and a bottle of water and hitting the road. I'm pretty sympathetic with some who don't leave every time we get a hurricane alert, which is about 4-5 times a year. It's not easy and it is beyond the resources of many people.