Why stay for a storm? Experts say the reasons some people don't follow evacuation orders run the gamut

Two deadly back-to-back hurricanes recently sparked mass evacuation orders in Florida and other southeastern states, but some residents chose to stay home instead — just as others did on Long Island when Superstorm Sandy rolled ashore nearly 12 years ago.

It's a strategy some weather and public safety experts say invites tragedy but that some people who live in storm-prone zones insist is better than leaving everything behind. But why?

"It’s complicated," said Cara Cuite, a Rutgers University associate professor who studies the topic. 

The research psychologist and other experts pointed to a host of issues that make it harder for some people to leave their homes after storm evacuation orders — issues ranging from psychological reasons to physical limitations to financial hardships and even pet ownership.

"There's a very important group of people who stay behind because they can't leave because the evacuation requires things that they don't have, like perhaps a car or money for a hotel, or the shelter is full. Or, even if you are going to a shelter, you need money if you're going to be leaving your home," Cuite said. "I think this is probably affecting more people than ever right now," she added.

The professor also said that while more storm shelters now are accepting pets, some people may own multiple animals or live in rural areas and don't want to leave their farm animals behind. Other people don't evacuate after they've made modifications to their homes following a previous storm and consider them to be completely stormproof, when they're not, Cuite said.

Nelson Vaz, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Upton, said another challenge includes overcoming people's reactions to storm warnings based on their experiences of living through other storms — with rising global temperatures now creating fiercer weather patterns.

"We have actually seen more of these extreme rainfall events in terms of flash flooding, what we call these 1 in 1,000 year events," Vaz said as an example.

'Safer in my own dwelling'

Kevin Reed, associate provost for climate and sustainability programming at Stony Brook University, said that while weather warnings always have been critical, forecasts are more accurate now than decades ago.

"Our tools have improved to the point where we can forecast things and trajectories of them, and the warning areas are probably smaller than they have been in the past, as we have better understanding of where they go," Reed said. 

But even with advanced warning systems in place, a subset of people still chooses not to evacuate or simply can’t.

Florida resident John Mendicino, 70, formerly of Holbrook, said in an interview he didn't leave his home before Hurricane Milton made landfall this week, despite being in an evacuation zone.

The resident of North Port, in Sarasota County, said he secured 70 storm shutters on his home to try to keep the winds at bay, bought hundreds of bottles of water and used a generator after the electricity went out.

Mendicino, a former sergeant in the New York Guard — a volunteer force that supports the New York National Guard — said his home was intact after the hurricane passed.

He also recalled living through at least three other major storms without leaving home, including Hurricane Ian in 2022, when he said a tree fell and punctured the roof of his Florida home.

"I'm not near the water," Mendicino said. "I’m safer in my own dwelling than driving around in a car stuck on a highway someplace. I know people who went to the other side on the Atlantic and they had problems there," he said of Floridians who evacuated for the hurricane. 

"You have to really leave the planet to be safe," the former Long Islander added.

'Where would I go?'

American Red Cross official Jason Lyons, who works as the agency's Community Disaster Program manager for Nassau County, said it's hard to overcome the instinct some people have to stay back and protect their property. He added that education about storm dangers is key.

"By just the nature of things, folks don't want to move. 'I love my home. I don't want to leave my home. And then if I leave my home, who's going to secure it?'" said Lyons, giving reasoning he's heard in the past.

He added that some people "want to stay because they think it’s going to be another one of those predictions from the weatherman that doesn't come true."

Nelly Romero, 64, who lives in a second-floor apartment in a two-family house in Long Beach, said she rode out Superstorm Sandy at home with her husband and two daughters, then 7 and 11.

"We have a balcony in the back and the waters came gushing into everybody's home and it was terrible," she said.

Romero, who lost her car in the storm, said her family was forced to move for a couple of months after Sandy because of no electricity. But she said she's not sure if she would evacuate if there was another dire storm warning. She pointed out that hurricanes can affect a wide region and said leaving home would require preparing and heading out early to avoid congestion.

"I probably would think about it, because the first question I would ask is, 'Where would I go?'" she said.