Assumption of Risk

It really bothers me that in our country we have set up a system wherein we allow people to assume vast amounts of risk to their persons and property and then, if catastrophe strikes, the individual is indemnified by the system. Why should I pay for the rescue of people who refuse to evacuate during mandatory orders? Why should I pay to rebuild houses people knowingly put in the paths of hurricanes and then refuse to insure? In our society, our continued bail-out of those who put themselves and their property in the way of natural disasters without the ability or means to protect themselves is increasingly the threat to lives and property. Those able-bodied individuals who knowingly refuse to evacuate during a mandatory order should be fined heavily to pay for the costs of pulling them out. Those who choose to build houses in the path of hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes should be required to have insurance to cover those catastrophes. Should catastrophe strike, it's not the government's place to step in where your own failings have taken you.

Sure, some people can't afford to pay for earthquake insurance in California or hurricane insurance in Florida or flood insurance in Louisiana. If you can't afford the insurance, then you either need to assume the risk yourself or move somewhere else - like Washington, Illinois, or Virginia. move away from the obvious catastrophe sites and move towards safer areas.

Poll: Coastal Residents Won't Evacuate
Associated Press

MIAMI - About one in three people living in Southern coastal areas said they would ignore hurricane evacuation orders of a storm threatened their community, up from about one in four ast year, a poll released Tuesday shows.

The survey found the most common reasons for not evacuating were the same ones that topped last year's Harvard University poll: People believe that their homes are safe and well-built, that roads would be too crowded and that fleeing would be dangerous. Slightly more than one in four also said they would be reluctant to leave behind a pet.

Robert Blendon, the Harvard professor who directed the survey, said the mild 2006 Atlantic hurricane season probably put more coastal residents at ease. "It just shows how people can become complacent if they're not immediately threatened," Blendon said.

Residents were asked how worried they are about hurricanes, what supplies they have in their homes, how confident they are about being rescued and how else they had prepared for possible storms. The poll found 78 percent felt prepared if a major hurricane struck their community in the next six months.

Thirty-one percent of respondents said they would not evacuate. Another 5 percent said their decision would depend on the circumstances.