Community Chat

[SeaMaiden]

For some reason my print gets cut off the page?. Sorry!

I really feel that some people have no where to go....no friends or family....all they have is what they have there in Florida....that house, that land and all the contents inside.   To these people that choose to stay.....leaving and coming  back to NOTHING would be like a death to them.  It would be the same as dying or experiencing a death.  It is their choice.  To many it is a poor choice....but, if it puts no one else in danger but you, then that choice needs to be respected.  Of course the choice to stay may impact those who love you....

Years ago when  the volcano Mt St Helens was about to blow  here in Washington state, a man became well known for choosing to stay and die .  His name was Harry Randall Truman . He decided that if the mountain was going to blow....he would go with it...he and his 16 cats.....and he did. He died that day the volcano blew.  Now somewhat of a folk hero, people say he went the way he wanted to go,  In Harry's words:

"I'm going to stay right here because, I'll tell you why, my home and my (expletive) life's here," he told National Geographic in an interview before the disaster. "My wife and I, we both vowed years and years ago that we'd never leave Spirit Lake. We loved it. It's part of me, and I'm part of that (expletive) mountain," he said.

Here is a picture of Harry. 

[Plaid Pants2]

That is not exclusionary to just shelters.

That can happen anywhere people are crowded, and tired.

You pack a family of 10 in to a house that has just one bedroom and one bathroom, and the same thing can happen.

I'd still prefer going to a shelter, over staying and drowing in my home.

[QueenDanceALot]

---

@Carmie wrote:

Florida has many farms.  It's not easy to round up your cattle and horses and leave.  Many stay behind to protect their animals.  I understand,

---

@Carmie

I wouldn't be able to leave my animals.

I'm praying for everyone, people and animals, who are in the path.

[SeaMaiden]

---

@Vivian Florimond wrote:

Many years ago, there was an old codger who refused to leave his home despite warnings that Mt. St. Helens was about to erupt. I think his name was actually Harry Truman. I don't know if they ever found his body, or what was left of it. Sometimes people can be very foolishly stubborn. If they want to kill themselves, so be it. However, first responders should not have to risk their lives to rescue these loons. This hurricane is nothing to fool with. My mother in law was stuck in South Florida during Hurricane Andrew. It was a terrifying experience and she was never the same afterwards. She died a little more than a year later.

---

@Vivian  I also mentioned Harry.  I believe he and his cabin was buried under tons of mud and debris.  He  and his cats are together and part of the mountain and Spirit Lake as he wanted.

[Kachina624]

You can watch a number of live cams in the keys.  I can't post a link  because it has advertising but you can copy and paste it.  The wind is already really whipping the palms. Some cams are already out. 

http://wtop.com/world/2017/09/webcams-show-hurricane-irma-in-real-time/slide/1/

[Just Bling]

I've been watching live channel 4 in florida and the weatherman said "it didn't turn where they thought it was going to" so onward to the western side of FL, so they think, what happens if it doesn't turn north like they think?

[Susan Louise]

---

@brandiwine wrote:

People are free to make whatever decisions they want.  Hope no innocent people die trying to save them.

---

@brandiwine  That is the aspect which upsets me when I see it happen. Some folks can't see past their own stubbornness to save their own life, nevermind risking someone else's. 

Another sobering way of looking at it would be to give them their own toe tag to attach...along the same reasoning as writing one's SS# on their forearm.

[RainCityWoman]

---

@Vivian Florimond wrote:

Many years ago, there was an old codger who refused to leave his home despite warnings that Mt. St. Helens was about to erupt. I think his name was actually Harry Truman. I don't know if they ever found his body, or what was left of it. Sometimes people can be very foolishly stubborn. If they want to kill themselves, so be it. However, first responders should not have to risk their lives to rescue these loons. This hurricane is nothing to fool with. My mother in law was stuck in South Florida during Hurricane Andrew. It was a terrifying experience and she was never the same afterwards. She died a little more than a year later.

---

Yes, his name was indeed Harry Truman, and I think he went down with his lodge establishment at the base of the mountain at Spirit Lake.  To the best of my knowledge, he and the establlishment are buried under the magma and Spirit Lake is no longer there. The day it happened, I and many others were attending the University Street Fair. We didn't notice much change in the sky, but we found out later that the plume of ash bypassed Seattle and the air currents took all of it to Eastern Washington where cars, buildings, etc. were covered in thick ash.