Hurricane Evacuation

I am always amazed at how good We Americans (myself very much included) are at armchair quarterbacking the decisions of other people. I note that this trait is particularly prevalent among the smug.

After Katrina, we heard over and over about how the government shouldn't be expected to come in and clean up after other people's mistakes. They should have evacuated! The same thing seems to happen with every natural disaster.

In the spirit of these arguments, I provide the following two excerpts from our beloved media.

Exhibit A:

People who live in the possible paths of Hurricane Irma, which could make landfall on American shores as soon as this weekend, face the difficult decision of whether to stay in place or flee. In addition to weighing the costs of leaving town, many also have to consider whether evacuating could put their job at risk. 

Almost as soon as government officials started warning residents of many parts of South Florida to get out of Irma’s path, people began seeking advice on social media on what rights and protections workers have during the storm. One of the most common questions surfacing on Reddit and Twitter was whether workers could be fired for not showing up to work because they had left town ahead of the storm. 

The answer to that question, in many cases, is that they can indeed be fired. Sharon Block, the executive director of the Labor and Worklife program at Harvard Law School and a former Department of Labor employee, says a major storm, even one that yields a state of emergency, doesn’t suspend labor laws. This means that laws that protect workers’ pay still stand, but because in Florida, workers are employed at-will, it also means that (barring a collective-bargaining agreement or contract stating otherwise) workers can still be fired for their absence. “You can be fired for a good reason [or] a bad reason—as long as it's not an unlawful reason, which is usually discrimination,” Block says.

 Now, I don't live in Florida. I don't practice employment law.

I do, however, provide for my family. If there was a hurricane bearing down on Indianapolis (far fetched hypothetical, I am aware) I would most assuredly not evacuate if it meant that I may lose my job for failing to show up for work the morning after the hurricane struck.

Ironically, because I work in a "white collar, professional" job, I have the flexibility to evacuate, work remotely, make up the time I lost, meet urgent deadlines as I see fit, etc. In other words, I have flexibility. Along with that, I have the (limited) means to evacuate my family, i.e. I can afford to fill the gas tank up even with inflated prices; I can put my family up in a motel a few hundred miles away; I can spring for a few days' meals at a restaurant.

What about those who work hourly retail jobs? They have families too, but they can't really afford to evacuate; they have little or no employment or income security; they can't afford to lose their jobs. What are they to do? Alas, our national media has provided another pertinent piece of commentary

Exhibit B:

BATON ROUGE, LA—As punishing wind and rain from the former Hurricane Harvey made landfall, government officials urged Louisiana residents Wednesday to evacuate dangerous lower income brackets. “Given the extent of the potential destruction, we urge anyone in the path of the storm to make their way to higher median incomes immediately,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, adding that residents should resist any urge to wait out the dangerous weather below the poverty line and proceed directly to a higher tax bracket. “We know from experience that in hazardous conditions like these, the safest place for Louisianans to be is at least four or five times wealthier than they are now. This is no time to take risks—please, leave right now and make your way to the upper-middle class if at all possible.” Edwards went on to say that while no one could be forcibly evacuated, anyone who chose to remain in a lower income bracket should not expect to receive help anytime soon.

Courtesy: The Onion. Spot on as always!