Home can be a refuge. But when natural disaster strikes,
hunkering down at home can be a deadly mistake. All told, 32 of
the 53 New Yorkers who died in last fall's Superstorm Sandy
drowned, and most of them died at home, according to a report
published today in the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. They lived
in or near a zone of the city that was under a mandatory
evacuation order. They drowned when the storm surge flooded
homes and cut off escape routes. Why didn't they leave? Red
Cross volunteers gleaned these comments from neighbors and
relatives of the deceased: "Afraid of looters." "Thought
Hurricane Irene was mild." "Unable to leave because did not have
transportation." Getting people to evacuate when a hurricane or
other natural disaster looms is a challenge that has bedeviled
public safety officials nationwide for years. Safety in the face
of natural disasters has been on our minds this week because of
the devastating tornado in Moore, Okla. People typ