(MOBILE, Ala.) - We all know it's important to have supplies ready to go in the event of a tropical storm or hurricane. But it's also important to know when to get out of town. Even so, there are countless reasons many people use not to evacuate when an order is issued.
Charles Lovelace and his family almost lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina. "I went through Camille, Hurricane George, all hurricanes and never got water," he says.
Officials say there are many people like Lovelace who stay in harm's way, thinking they can ride a storm out, even if mandatory evacuations are issued. "The problem that we run into is that people will wait until the last minute where they can't get out and they want rescuers to come in and get them," says Steve Huffman, spokesperson for Mobile Fire and Rescue Department.
Huffman says emergency crews can rescue people up to a certain point, but it's an unnecessary risk for his officers when citizens have more than 24 hours notice to evacuate. "We're just as vulnerable to the weather as anybody else so we have to precautions and when the weather gets to a certain point we have to call off searches."
For Charles Lovelace, a fire department is where he eventually took shelter during Hurricane Katrina. "We had a skiff tied to a tree behind the house. We went over to our neighbors and got them. The wind blew us up 2 miles north of here to a fire department where we took refuge. It was ignorance, we should've left, we should have heeded all warnings," he says.
