> On TikTok, one woman in Southwest Florida has been explaining why it’s so difficult to leave home with six children and four dogs. Many shelters don’t accept pets. “I would have to book an Airbnb or something,” she says in one video. “I can’t afford to do that.”
Woof. I guess you’re just going to have to stay put and risk your giant family against that thing that happens several times a year where you live.
Well this is the most depressingly cruel set of comments I've ever read on this site.
"Just don't be poor!" is not a take worthy of HN.
Ever been to a hurricane party? Basically get a bunch of friends, alcohol, food and lock yourselves in a secure building.
Highly recommended.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Camille#Hurricane_..., and the party didn’t even happen!
OMG. If you click the link take a close look at the before and after pics of the Richelieu Apartments.
Then don’t live somewhere that gets hurricanes?
Houston TX, Asheville NC ? Any ideas for solving poverty in Louisiana so the people who are there can afford to leave?
What's affording to leave? A $50 bus ticket to anywhere else? Plenty of places give those away for free to avoid dealing with homeless people
When someone says "I can't afford to leave" they're rarely talking about the transport specifically, don't be so obtuse.
First two months rent, 30x rent income requirements, having family to room with some place else
Where will they go after that and afford food, water, etc after this proverbial bus trip?
Where does that $50 come from?
If you do manage to save that, where does the money for rent, etc in the destination come from?
Where do the savings to help you buy food until you can get a job come from?
Moving locations is not just the cost of a ticket - even though that itself may be more than can be afford - so don’t be an ass when talking about people who are in poverty. Just try to be a decent person and consider that other people’s circumstances may not match your own, and sometimes it’s not a trivial fix.
You buckle in and ride it out. Maybe you drown or get crushed when your place collapses around you. Maybe you don't. I for one am getting PTSD from going through this every 2 weeks.
FEMA is a thing, so are Firefighters. Even in capitalist US there were free evacuations and shelters https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/09/hurricane-mi...
"while the Florida division of emergency management is also offering free evacuation shuttles to shelters."
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It being a proxy war against Russia justifies USA spending $ more than if it was an isolated regional conflict.
$ is cheaper than US warfighter lives. Spending $ is worth it if it helps the west win while the war is still just a proxy war.
You can afford it.
Way to be dismissive of poverty.
The whole point is for many folk you literally cannot afford it, it isn’t “your life is worth some debt” it is “you do not have money or credit that gives you an option”:
* having a car costs money, so many poor people don’t have one
* gas costs money, even people who do have one are often running on the minimum amount of gas, and literally cannot afford to fill the tank, let alone buy enough gas to get a meaningful distance, assuming the car is sufficiently reliable.
* taxis, uber/lyft (even with limits on price gouging/“surge pricing”) cost even more money and during an evacuation if they’re even available
* public transit for many folk is not an option (not available, under equipped, …) and often during evacuations is out of order because the transit operators are also trying to leave
So they literally cannot afford to leave.
You also have “can I afford to get fired”, as happened to those people who were killed due to their employer mandating they work until after the point of safe evacuation hit. With little to no employee protections a person who is on a week-to-week budget can become homeless if they’re fired, so the risk for “ignore evacuation warnings, you must come to work or you’re fired” is catastrophic.
I get that many people, especially on mediums like HN think they know what poverty is like because - for example - they had little to “no” money when they were students, but that’s still an unbelievably far cry from actual poverty.
For people in poverty claiming “you can afford it”, because of some “your life has value” nonsense completely disregards the whole concept of poverty. The literal point is that these are people who have nothing that can be used or converted into anything that can be used to escape.
Don’t suggest “then go on foot” either, because again dismissive, but I’d also hope very obviously a bad plan for anyone.
How about "you may not be able to afford not to"?
Uber was free in at least one area of FL.
Uber isn't going to house and feed you or your kids and pets.
well first step is getting away from an area that might well rapidly kill them?
The “free Ubers” are to/from local shelters as far as I can make out.
They’re not an option for people who need to actually evacuate the area.
Who are the people the article is about.
There are lots of options available for people, except those in poverty as there are no free long distance evacuation and return services.
You also say “at least they’ll be alive”, but you’re assuming their options at the other end are meaningfully better than risking just bunkering down where they are (especially in light of the US Supreme Court allowing criminalization of homelessness).