Texas holdouts committing Suicide

[392cobra]

Looks like there are going to be a few less votes available for "o" after Ike passes through.



Texas holdouts urge Hurricane Ike to 'bring it on!' 12 Sep 2008 04:10:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Tim Gaynor

GALVESTON, Texas, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Hurricane Ike may be taking aim for the low-lying coast of Texas, but grocery store worker Jacqueline Harris is staying put -- in a flimsy, wooden beach bar.

"If nature is going to come and get us, bring it on!" Harris said as she sipped a Bud light beer at the Poop Deck, a tavern a stone's throw from the sandy coastal strip thrashed by white-capped waves.

"Everything I own and love is on the island; I'm going down with the ship," she added.

Residents of vulnerable coastal areas like Galveston Island are under a mandatory evacuation order. They face 111 mile per hour (177 kph) winds and tidal surges of up to 20 feet (6 metres) if Ike makes landfall as a dangerous Category 3 storm as expected late on Friday.

Texas governor Rick Perry urged residents to heed evacuation orders in such low-lying areas of the Gulf of Mexico that face severe flooding from tidal surges and heavy rains.

Some have decided to stay, boarding up their windows and preparing to move to higher floors ahead of the storm's surge, which is tipped to top Galveston's 17-foot (5-metre) sea wall and flood the island from end-to-end by daylight on Saturday.

A Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Galveston in 1900 killed at least 6,000 people, making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

The manager of the Poop Deck Marie Aldrich-Creasy says she has no plans to leave. She has stockpiled batteries, candles and a few tins of food, but said would not be shuttering her bar, which faces the sea a few yards (metres) across a highway.

"I don't believe I am endangering anyone. The doors are open; if they choose to come, that's their free will," she said, sipping a vodka and mocha cocktail in the bar.

THRILL SEEKERS AND THE WEARY

Every hurricane has its holdouts. Those who risk all to stay put do so for a variety of reasons.

"This is our home. Why run and come back to nothing?" said Harris, sitting at a table with other regulars in the bar.

Waitress Nanette Crouch said she was put off by the huge traffic jams she faced fleeing the coastal strip ahead of the last hurricane, Rita, which barged ashore in Texas three years ago.

"I've been praying a lot, I'm scared, but I'm never going in that traffic again, not after Rita, it was 17 hours of hell," she said, as she stood on the deck of the bar, with her mother Nancy.

Others opted to stay for the extreme thrill of riding out the storm, which has grown in size since roaring through the Caribbean, wreaking havoc in Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's something I've always wanted to do -- experience a hurricane," said Andrew Lawrence, a former convict turned builder, as he knocked back beers and shots in the bar.

"I've been in prison, I've been shot ... I figure if I do this, I'll be the Michael Phelps of travesties," he said, referring to the U.S. swim champion who won a record-setting eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympic games.

Staying on was not for all though. One couple said they were preparing to get off the island, and faced gentle mockery from others in the bar.

"They're voted off the island!" quipped housewife Eva Broughton. "This is 'Survivor,' this is reality." (Editing by Eric Walsh)

[Ron61]

Fred,

I saw that on the news and thought some of them must be out of their minds. They are like some of the people around here who refused to evacuate when the fires were going all out. Most of them changed their minds at the last minute when they saw just what a huge forest fire looks like coming at you and you have a garden hose to stop it. But a few, must have been transplanted Texans , stayed and lost their lives. To me, no house or material property is that valuable. Some things like pictures and stuff can't be replaced but they had plenty of warning to have loaded all that up.

Ron

[Ron61]

Ernie,

I think that those who stayed for the fires and now this storm are just more dumb than afraid of change. When they finally get these last two fires here out, a lot of lives will be changed. One person that I talked to who was in the evacuation center they set up in Anderson said he had refused to leave his house until he saw just how terrifying that wall of flame coming toward him was and that his little water hose was nothing. And after he got out with a helicopter dumping water to clear the road for him, his house wasn't burned after all.

Ron

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Ernie,

I think that those who stayed for the fires and now this storm are just more dumb than afraid of change.Ron

That's the whole point of why they are (were) O voters.

[Joe Wicked]

I see on the news now, that the Coast guard is flying in and taking out people who are calling to be saved now that they cannot get out on their own. I personally hope that they are charged with the costs of the rescue operation. I hope like hell it doesn't happen, but if any of the rescuers get hurt or killed, then they should be charged for it as their reckless actions were the cause of the injury/death.

[computerworks]

Seemed like an inappropriate thread title... made a change

[stuartb]

let them stay if they are stupid enough. It is called survival of the fittest. And there will be that many less idiots on the road.

[FWB]

Originally Posted by computerworks

Seemed like an inappropriate thread title... made a change

thank you...

[imagine2frolic]

THINNNING the gene pool. Stupid should hurt, and this one will be extremely painful, and full of fear before death. If there is a mandatory evacuation then there should be no rescues after a certain time....IDIOTS.

[392cobra]

I hope Ike caught this idiots before they had a chance to reproduce.

I'm really tired of brave men & women putting their own lives at risk to save morons that have put their own lives at risk for no other reason a thrill.

[bomelia]

And when these idiots find themselves waving flags on their rooftops, drinking infested water and begging for help that cannot get to them, it will be George Bush's fault. Any bet takers?

Mike

[Ron61]

I have just been watching some pictures that are from the Huston area and they are saying that people who stayed in the other places to experience the rush of going through a hurricane are now pleading for someone to come rescue them. I guess they are fortunate that I am not in charge as I would the dumb ASSE* stay there and if they survive ok and if not ok. They had ample warning and refused to leave and now want money, time, and other peoples lives risked to come get them.

Ron

[Buzz]

I understand the sentiment of people deserving to face the consequences of their actions but I cannot relate to hoping something serious happens to them and enjoying it if (when) it does. Let alone turning the deaths of hurricane victims (even stupid ones) into a political opportunity to make a ridiculous point. These are real men, women and children out there. If they die it will be their own fault but you guys sound like the bloodthirsty mob at a public stoning!

Every dismasted ocean racer the coast guard tries to rescue knew what they were getting into before they cast off. Every race car driver trapped in a burning wreck knew careening around a track in 200mph traffic or blasting down the quarter mile in a flimsy 12000 hp funny car stood a good chance of being fatal. Every one of them had a wife or a friend who asked them not to do it. Should the brave men and women of the rescue crews stand down and let 'em fry while the audience hoots and howls at their stupidity? I don't remember any comments about thinning of the gene pool when Dale Earnhardt bought the farm. His aggressive driving was going to get him or someone else killed sooner or later.

Again, I agree people should live (or die) with the consequences of their deliberate actions, and I'm no bleeding heart, but I just can't view it as an occasion for celebration.

Watching the news must be a real barrel of laughs.

[Bill Bess]

Hopefully these Stupid people will make it, if they do they can bragg about how cool it was to ride out the storm.
If they don't make it, it's just too damm bad for them and their friends....as they say STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

I ONLY HOPE WE AS TAX PAYERS DON'T HAVE TO GO GET THEM.
Bill

[392cobra]

I'm a long way from breaking out the crying towel for those idiots.

[Buzz]

Me too but I'm also a long way from hoping they die so I can make a point!

[392cobra]

I have not read one thing from anybody on the whole website hoping anybody dies Buzz.

You are taking this to an extreme.

[Buzz]

let them stay if they are stupid enough. It is called survival of the fittest. And there will be that many less idiots on the road.

I hope Ike caught this idiots before they had a chance to reproduce.

Sorry Freddie, I must've misunderstood.

[392cobra]

Yes you did/do.

I see a big difference in not giving a rats azz if someone decides to kill themself and hoping that same person will kill themself.

[wtm442]

I heard a great comment last night on the news. Someone strongly suggested that anyone along the coast line in the Galveston area that does not evacuate should write their social security number on their arm in waterproof ink to make it easy to identify people in the morgue.