Mandatory: authoritatively ordered, obligatory, compulsory, permitting no option, not to be disregarded or modified.
So what part of “mandatory evacuation” did thousands of Galveston residents not understand before 110-miles-per-hour Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas coast last week?
An estimated 140,000 idiots decided to ignore the official order and tough it out. And hundreds of them ended up pleading for rescue as Mother Nature destroyed residences and vehicles.
That put hundreds of National Guard and Coast Guard personnel, federal emergency crews and state and local responders in great peril.
Clearly representing the bottom of the gene pool, Galveston’s naysayers can’t claim they didn’t have adequate warnings or emergency transportation and shelter for them and their pets.
Adding insult to injury, American taxpayers and insurance ratepayers will now have to pay billions of dollars to repair or replace structures that should not be allowed in areas subject to flooding and other natural disasters.
Enough is enough. (21 SEPTEMBER 2008)