Who Actually Listens?

by Joey Tung

During the midst of commotion surrounding Hurricane Sandy, warnings were made and evacuation orders were placed. Even U.S. President Obama had urged Americans to follow the directions saying, “If you don’t evacuate when you are asked to evacuate, you are putting first responders in danger”.

Yet, did people actually listen?

Days after the disaster, there is a troubling amount of deaths and injuries that could have been prevented if citizens had heeded the warnings. There is a huge issue for officials where people do not take their alerts seriously and take in as a suggestion rather than a “must-do”.

Most would think that staying indoors in their own homes is a lot safer than evacuating and leaving a familiar place. What happens is that people have the mentality that nothing that bad could ever happen to them. Obviously the officials are exaggerating the seriousness of the issue. Why should we leave our homes?

They prefer to think about the expenses it will cost to live in a hotel or how much of a nuisance it would be to live at a friend’s.  They might be worried about how looters will steal their valuables.

“I would never have imagined something so devastating,” she recalled later, after at least 4 feet of water rushed into the newly refinished downstairs apartment in her split-level home. “Nobody would have convinced me to leave. … I wanted to be here to prevent anything if it was going to happen. But that was senseless.”

No one really gives a thought on how their lives are in danger. How they are putting other’s lives in danger.

Sources:

Photo: