Unfortunately what we learned from Katrina on the MS gulf coast is that you are almost better off staying to collect video evidence of the damage to your house. That way the insurance companies can't try to weasel out of paying the claim.

Most don't go because of theft if they do. Too many bad people in America.

Well at least we'll have fun watching storm tearing up houses with people still in it. It's like watching the running of the bulls in Spain, how much fun is it to watch the running of the bulls without seeing people being stampede.

Remember that old guy-I think his name was Harry Truman-that refused to evacuate in the face of the imminent eruption of Mt. St.Helens in the 80's? Remember what happened to him? Neither does he...

Fear of looting. The opportunity is there and the police can't be everywhere. Nobody wants to come back to their home and find it spared from damage but emptied of all it's valuables.

The don't leave because they are dumb asses.

Just like the old farmer in the top of the field plowing in a thunderstorm says, "if it's my time to

go, The lord will take me".

Dip, the lord gifted you with the intelligence to get in out of a storm.

USE IT.

Adrenalin junkies.

Expect to see pictures of surfers going for "the big one". Gnarly dude! Fur sure.

One characteristic of a "mandatory evacuation" totally omitted in this article is the simple fact that once you leave, you are at the mercy and grace of the "authorities" to determine when you can return. And more often than not, you are not allowed to return until some bureaucratic determines it is totally safe...whatever that means. And more often than not that is long, long after the storm has past. Sometimes weeks! I would never evacuate for this simple fact, i.e., once gone I am not allowed to return until someone else determines I can. It is BS! And until this mentality changes, I am staying put.

If they won't evacuate they should be notified that no first responders will attempt any rescue until after it's completely safe. If that means you die, so be it.

@MG- California...  Those "authorities" that you seem to think are mean and evil are keeping people out for good reasons. I bet if you went back into a disaster area and got injured you'd probably try to sue the government for letting you into a dangerous area. Also, it's a lot easier to keep looting down if there are limits on who can go in. I bet you'd be pissed if someone got back in before you and looted your home.

You want total personal freedom? You can live with the risks and pay the price with your life if you want, but if you ever decide to stay someplace where there is a mandatory evacuation be sure to not call for help when it gets really bad.

You can't and shouldn't force people to leave their homes, try to convince them, offer assistance, but other than that its their choice. Beyond the people who are afraid or incapable of leaving there are some people who probably are genuinely prepared to weather a hurricane, storm shelters, reinforced construction are pretty common these days, and governments cookie cuter approach to disasters can put such people in danger rather than safety.

"They don't go because, frankly, they don't believe that the impact of the event is going to be dangerous enough to warrant leaving the house," Klapow said.

Uhm... no.

I was born in Tampa Florida. I've lived here most of my life. I've been through hurricanes and tropical storms... even the no-name storm a few years ago. As long as you aren't on the coast (storm surge is killer) or in a mobile home (those suckers fly), with proper prep riding out a storm isn't really that bad. I'm far enough inland that storm surge isn't a concern. I'm not in a low-lying area (though with most of the state being swamp I'm not that sure about that one, but eh, I've piled sandbags before). My house (real house, not trailer) is rated to withstand a Cat 5 storm. I've got supplies. Bring it. Seriously. These storms don't scare me, not with proper preparation.

Heck, I remember being in 2nd grade and school was let out early because of a storm, Mom drove with half the car up on the sidewalk to keep the tailpipe out of the water so the car wouldn't stall. I remember during high school, body surfing through the parking lot of the condo complex during a hurricane.

Hurricanes have prior warning. They aren't like tornadoes in Tornado Alley that barely give two minutes notice and they aren't like earthquakes that give no notice. You can prepare or evacuate from a hurricane. It can be dealt with. Even going without power for weeks, it's not the same as other natural disasters. The ones with no or little warning. Plan, and deal with it and everything will be fine.

I have some good friends who lived in Miami in a VERY beautiful, substantial home, during hurricane Andrew. It happened that when the hurricane hit, they were on vacation visiting us and other friends on the west coast. Their home was half destroyed; and, depending on where in the house they had taken shelter, they could have easily been killed. (It was not obvious which parts of the house ultimately stood and which did not...it had depended on the last minute angle at which the storm hit.) The husband said "thank God we were here on vacation-having lived my whole life in Florida; and, having experienced other hurricanes, I would have stayed. It would have been the wrong decision!"

I was on a fishing trip down on Hatteras Island when a hurricane struck, It was a very odd storm;. we had no warning until it was right on top of us and the roads and bridges were already closed. Bottom line: you don't want to ride out a hurricane, The aftermath, even for a pidddly one, is an enormous PITA. The lack of ice and beer should be enough to give anyone pause. It just sucks.

I'm hoping that those that are planning to ride the storm out PLEASE READ THIS.

Irene is expected to strengthened to possibly a Cat 4 before making landfall.

Hurricanes of this magnitude contain in them micro bursts or 'mini tornadoes' if you will, within their massive wind and rain walls.

There is NOTHING there where you live that is worth losing your life over....remember Katrina.

Last but never least...your family and friends love you. PLEASE....LEAVE!

If they want to stay in their homes then just fine and dandy. However, they should have to sign an acknowledgment of the danger which includes that they realize that NO ONE will be coming to rescue them for at least 96 hrs.....that covers the 3-4 days it takes to get emergency workers into an area, survey the destruction and decide where to start. Everyone expects that someone else will risk life and limb to save their sorry a$$e$. Well, too bad. You stay you had better be able to survive for a week on your own. Also, this paper should have a release of liability of the gov`t. Not the gov`ts fault (be it federal, state or local) if you get trapped in debris as your house is washed away. We are not talking a tsunami here that arrived fifteen minutes after a quake while everyone was still trying to figure out what happened. This hurricane has been announced for days!

How about in Katrina where pets were not evacuated, sick relatives were trapped in hospitals, residents were promised that if they evacuated, they would be allowed to return to their homes? They were then kept away by force. Those inside the area were prevented from leaving by force. There were no apologies for a pathetic, incompetent response but plenty of accusations for victims of the disaster. After spending days operating heart and oxygen machines manually, doctors and nurses were charged with murder because patients died. Being lied to by those purporting to be concerned for your safety has a far-reaching effect.

Cellars used to be built under or close to most houses. In warm climates they keep food from spoiling, save energy and provide shelter from major storms and tornadoes. Evacuations rarely go smoothly and they're expensive. A car is the worst place to be in a tornado or hurricane and that's exactly where people end up dying when millions of others are trying to leave at the same time.

And yes, it is the government's responsibility to rescue people if necessary. If they can bail out and subsidize corporate criminals to the tune of billions of dollars, they can spend a few of our tax dollars to deal with a genuine emergency.

for hundreds of years people stayed through all kinds of weather, it is part of living in those areas . We are raising a bunch of sissies ! I guess today when a child has to be strapped in a car , where a helmet to ride a bike, can't call another kid a name, can't have a good ol fist fight , can't even be disciplined , etc. how would he think of staying through bad weather to protect his home. Did all those people on the islands hop on a plane and leave their homes ? Wake up america and quit raising sissies !

The reason some do not leave, me included when I was still on Coastal NC, & still have waterfront property in Carteret. In Coastal NC from 1973 to 2010, never evacuated, only damage was a few shingles(now metal roof)...

The 11pm track 25Aug indicated that the MAJORITY of the NC coast from Morehead, NC to Va was going to be in the worst case area. With 8 to 12+feet of storm surge around high tide... Most of Dare & northern Carteret County would have been underwater... Yea I would have moved on that projection...

Now the NEW track has moved east (back to earlier projection), reducing the severiety of the storm surge for the Lookout & Morehead areas south. Dare is still going to have major flooding...

People worry about the GLOBAL warming, when the Government can not even predict accurate hurricane tracks... Ha! Ha!

The same thing in 1999 a cat 4/5 was going to hit around Hubert/Jacksonville, NC... When it made landfall it was a cat 2...

IMO - The more the EXPERTS rely on the computers the worse their accuracy. Or maybe little information was better that erroneous information...

THE MAIN REASON PEOPLE DON'T LEAVE IS BECAUSE THEY DON'T THINK THINGS THROUGH.

For starters many stay because they think their homes are well built and can with stand the hurricane force winds. That may be so but what about the house down the street. If the storm takes your neighbor's house apart and uses it as a battering ram against your house can your house withstand that. Can it take a car, boat, truck or tanker being rammed into it.

Also, people worry that they won't be allowed back in right away if there is a lot of damage. This is the silliest reason of all to stay. Why would you want to be trapped in an area that may be inaccessible to rescue and fire service. In hurricane fires can break out and you could be burnt to a crisp. Possessions can be replaced. If not then you can live without them.

There are tons of other reasons like tornadoes can spin off of hurricanes and put that 100 mile per hour threat at 150 miles per hour.

Think people there are so many dangers.

The Donald Rumsfeld School of Thought says that there are things we know and things we don't know . . . and things we don't know that we know . . . and things we do know that we don't know . . . and things we don't know that we don't want to know . . . and things we surely must know that we don't want to know . . .things we thought we knew that we find we thought too much . . .

"The LORD is slow to anger and Great in Power and will Not at all aquit the Wicked. The LORD has HIS Way in the Whirlwind and in the Storm. And the Clouds are the Dust of HIS Feet. But with an Overrunning Flood HE will make an utter End of the place thereof and Darkness Shall pursue HIS Enemies." Nahum I:3+8 Great and Mighty is Our GOD and Greatly To Be Feared and Praised!

Most homes will stand up to a catagory one just fine. If you are 30 miles inland or more and a Cat 2 is heading for the coast you may be OK staying. A Cat 2 on the beach - time to run. Evacuating is a hard decision because there are many factors involved. Do you have a place to go to ? Once gone it may be a week or more before the authoities let you return. You have to have a place to go. While the authorities pile up on the roads keeping the legit owners out, looters go through the houses. Many times we see the Authorities are quick to overstate the dangers because they really do place lives above property as their priority. but almost to the point of recklessness in stating the danger. They have overstated it many times. There are many Cat 3 storms that are Cat 3 storms for the week of more they are over ocean but miraculously become Cat 1's when they hit the beach. No weather scientists have explained how that happens. Makes us wonder if the authorities don't hype it because they view a high evacutaion count as a job well done. IF you have a small hole in the roof or a broken window and a little rain gets in and it's a week or more without power - no AC running - and the house is mostly shutup that little water will grow mold like crazy. You could have covered the hole or window if you were there and mopped up the water. Pets are not welcome in most hotels. IF you evacuate and get stuck on a highway with a million other people and the storm catches you - it's worse than being in your home. So there are a lot of things to prepare for, know about and deal with. IT's not so simple as the authorities saying Go so you Go. No question for the 3's on up. It's the Cat 1 or 2 storms that make the decision hard.

IF they increased the building codes for coastal homes - 40 miles of the beach- to withstand storms with minimal damage then evacuations wouldn't be as critical. Such buildings and homes have been built for many years but not mandatory. Builders and Developers hate these rules because they like to slam buildings together quickly and cheaply with substandard materials. Their lobby is strong and so the rules stay favoring cheap construction.

I will be herding my two cats and the dog into the car soon, and have a huge check list to make sure that all of our needs are met while we're gone. If I couldn't take my animals, I would probably try to 'hunker down', as many do.

The image of my pets possibly suffering if I abandonded them is more then I can deal with. I am fortunate that I have options, many aren't as lucky.

Stay safe!