I'd say it's a combination of things. People tend to think nothing horrible like this will happen to them until something horrible like this happens to them. And the media treating every storm like it's going to be the end of the world certainly has a hand in desensitizing folks that one time when the danger is real. And sometimes folks are either too old or infirmed to evacuate, or just decide to roll the dice, or are just plain foolish.

Between the oppressive heat and humidity and the ever-present threat of storms like this blasting your life away, Florida isn't a place I'd ever consider living in the first place.

People stay for different reasons, and it happens all the time. Some don't buy the hype. Some have nowhere else to go. Some don't want to leave a longtime home. And so on.

We've seen it time and again, and it's not just with hurricanes, or in Florida, either.

I fully expect the game to stay in Tampa at this point.

Understood. I've only lived in states without natural disasters so it's hard for me to understand the thought process.

I have friends in Tampa with triplet 5 year-olds. They have plenty of money and family to have gone somewhere else for this but chose to stay. Just seems like a weird choice, but again, I've never thought about it much.

we get a lot of hurricanes every year. People get immune to the threat. Now, most hurricanes are not a threat like this one. Most only effect one region or city.

Most fizzle out after landfall. We get storms almost every day in the summer that have 35-50mph winds. Now, those only last for about 15 minutes not days.

I left because they were predicting a 10ft. Surge and my house is 8.5 feet above the water. If the forecast was like it ended up, I’d probably not left my house. And I’d been fine.

If it were just me, or me and my wife, I could see me getting supplies and riding it out. But with our kids, nope. I'd be outta there as soon as the evacuation order came in.

Sister has had a house in Long Beach Island, NJ for a many moons now. Was there in 1992 when the nor'easter rolled though. We stayed because the internet and high tech communications were in their infancy and weren't aware how bad it was going to become. Didn't listen to radio and pretty sure there's still no cable at house.

Was in high school at the time and it was the first time my parents let me get drunk with them because it was so freaking scary. Sounded like there was a jet engine was running in the back yard.

We stayed in the garage and smoked meat over charcoal and sipped tequila. Luckily there was minimal damage to her house but there were some that literally destroyed. Walking around the next day it looked like some places got carpet bombed in spots.

I imagine many want to be able to be proactive with damage control as well.

I read that the buildings in Tampa start only about a foot above high tide?

Is that true or was that media BS?

I hope coochie is doing okay.

Sorry don’t know about Tampa. But, yes Tampa downtown is at the water level.

Orlando is going to get hit right now by a Cat1 hurricane. That so unusual. This is biggest hurricane to ever hit Florida. It was slow. Usually it hits land and then it’s a tropical storm. This has moved an hour and a half car ride to Orlando and still has hurricane force winds.

I’m on the other side of the state and after it hits Orlando it’s still going to have 65-75 mph winds before it goes back over water.

A very rare storm.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I&#39;ve been capturing video from this webcam in Fort Myers all day and I&#39;ve put it into a Timelapse. Check out the storm surge rushing in! Crazy. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ian?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ian</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/flwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#flwx</a> <a href="https://t.co/lj7a1wThga">pic.twitter.com/lj7a1wThga</a></p>&mdash; Brennan Prill (@WxBrenn) <a href="https://twitter.com/WxBrenn/status/1575253395304288271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I guess I don't really know the difference between Tampa and Tampa downtown although I've been there for a work trip a couple of times. But that was a while ago.

I guess there's always trade offs for something that is a rare event. But at least at the moment, having buildings barely above the water line seems a bit crazy.

Nope, Katrina was a Cat 5.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Linemen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Linemen</a> have come from across the states to help get Florida&#39;s power back on. Now they wait for the all clear. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Naples?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Naples</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FortMyers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FortMyers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneIan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HurricaneIan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Florida?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Florida</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tornado?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tornado</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FortLauderdale?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FortLauderdale</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CapeCoral?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CapeCoral</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeyWest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KeyWest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DelrayBeach?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DelrayBeach</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cuba?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cuba</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Orlando?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Orlando</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FortLauderdale?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FortLauderdale</a> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hurricane?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hurricane</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hurricanFiona?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hurricanFiona</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tampa?this is 1 out of 10 gathering spots

src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tampa</a> <a href="https://t.co/46UiXOBjUd">pic.twitter.com/46UiXOBjUd</a></p>&mdash; Breaking News Worldwide (@FelizKarenP1) <a href="https://twitter.com/FelizKarenP1/status/1575318135317594113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>