Sunday

Reasons Why I Say "No" To Evacuations

With Gustav on the horizon, I have been getting a lot of phone calls from my family asking if we were going to evacuate. (BTW, my nephew & his mother have evacuated New Orleans.) My answer to them has been a resounding No. The least of my reasons is because it looks like it's not headed towards us.

The main reason is because of what we went through with the Hurricane Rita evacuation. I won't go into all the horrid details. Mainly, because I don't like reliving them in my mind. I will say that I don't like what it did to my kids. Big D made a tough decision and I supported him. Cleo was to stay home. We figured that she'd have a better shot of survival than on the road with us. We promised Lamb that she could destroy anything and we would not be mad at her. We put her food & water on our dining table in case of flooding. Lamb was devastated. She cried uncontrollably for the first hour. Big D prayed that he made the right decision and was sick with grief over what he was doing to his daughter. Of course, he absolutely made the right decision. Pets died on that journey. Cleo had it made. She was in an air conditioned house with food, drink, and potty. None of those things did we have.
We left before the sun was up. By the time the sun was down, we were only at The Woodlands. That is usually a trip that only takes 40 minutes or so on a regular day. We slept in the Target parking lot. Lamb & I slept outside on the trunk of our car. Never in a million years did I think I would sleep "comfortably" outside in a shopping parking lot with my daughter beside me. I was too tired & traumatized to worry about someone snatching her.

When we woke, I wanted to cry in frustration. My babies were eaten alive with mosquito bites. Bear from head to toe, literally. Lamb with a few on her face but the majority around her thighs. That picture of Bear is FIVE days after being bit. They were miserable and Bear was embarrassed to go back to school.










I just can't do that again for no reason. And my story is just one of millions. Some fared better and some fared much, much worse. I won't say I'll never evacuate again because I don't know that for sure. I will say that I will do whatever is necessary to avoid reliving that experience.

13 comments:

Forgetfulone said...

People who haven't lived here as long as I (we) have, get very panicky about hurricanes. I've lived through several cat. 3 hurricanes with not so much as a bruise or a broken window. I've also seen a tropical storm devastate homes and cars. People new to the area from out of state get very serious, and I just look at them, shake my head, and say, "Until it's a cat 4 and 24 hours away from landfall in Galveston, I'm not leaving." Ever. Again. In 43 years, I've evacuated ONCE. We waited till the last minute then drove south about 100 miles away to Pt. Lavaca. We got some rain, but that's it. Never. Again.

D... said...

Forgetfulone, that was our first experience with a hurricane (we've been here 10 years now). Boy, did we ever learn our lesson! Ever since then, we've said we are staying put unless it's a cat 5. And then we'll consider leaving at the last minute. ;)

Anonymous said...

Looks like your boy and my youngest have the same reactions to mosquito bites. Yikes! So glad you don't have to go anywhere for Gustav.

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Anonymous said...

You are in my prayers.

Jamie Dawn said...

What a horrid experience!
All those bites had to be miserable!!!
Living in hurricane territory means you have to make tough decisions about when to leave and when to stay.
You and your hubby will always have your family's best interest first and foremost in your decision making.
I'm glad the hurricane did not come directly your way, and it looks like the levees are holding pretty well so far in the New Orleans area.
I hope good news continues.

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

Amen, sistah! Never again! That was a nightmare I never wish to relive. Even now when we get caught in a traffic jam I get a little panicky. Post-traumatice evacuation stress, I believe. I can see why it led Bear to smoking.

marky said...

Ack! those bites are awful!!
Honestly I don't know what I would do in that situation. praying that you are safe and bite free today!

Jenny86753oh9 said...

We're kind of the same way around here with tornadoes. Newbies freak out every time the sirens go off, but we don't do anything until the winds stops blowing. Experience and understand always works better with Mother Nature. I don't blame you one bit! Your poor kiddos.

Glad you guys didn't have too much problems. Looks like we're getting the rain in a few hours.

kris said...

Amen, right on sista! I was in Chicago at a crop when Rita was here! DH packed up the whole downstairs and moved it up. Me, my Mom and MIL were freaking that he hadn't left, we're on the water! But he made the right decision....
and little guy slept thru it!
kris

Valarie Lea said...

Oh my goodness that sounds absolutely awful!!! I just can not imagine that. :(

Patois42 said...

I totally understand your thought process on this one. Totally.

Jennifer said...

That sounds terrible. We just moved to the Katy area not too long ago from San Antonio. Having to evacuate is new to me. I hope that we never have to.

jennyonthespot said...

My gosh. I have no idea living in a place where we just don't have evacuations to consider (earthquakes, yes, but ya can't anticipate those...).

I was 15 post behind on your blog, and I like to read from the oldest posts up, so... I haven't gotten to what's happening now! I may need to skip to the top! I hope everything is OK...

It sounds like Rita's evacuation is awful, but it sounds like you guys tried very hard to make the very best decisions for your family ...