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We watch in horror the devastation wrought on Florida, in particular, by Hurricane Ian.
We pray for the people and communities who must now rebuild their lives in Florida, Puerto Rico, the Carolinas and Cuba.
Yet, we cannot help but wonder why so many people chose to "ride out the storm" instead of fleeing the monster.
Here we are some eight days out and the death toll just keeps rising, reflecting that many people did not heed warnings to evacuate.
Hurricane Ian was a massive, deadly Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that caused widespread damage across western Cuba and the southeast United States, especially the states of Florida and South Carolina.
It packed winds exceeding 120 miles per hour.
It caused what likely is to be record storm surge.
Many compare it to a tsunami.
Days before Ian made landfall, the National Hurricane Center issued dire warnings about the historic storm surge of 18 feet and higher.
There are more than 105 confirmed U.S. fatalities (as of Tuesday) blamed on Ian and that number is growing over a week out, with rescues still taking place.
At least 101 of those deaths occurred in Florida, as well as four in North Carolina, according to the governor there. In Florida, Lee County was the largest source of the casualties, with 54 deaths reported by county officials.
Most of the deaths from the hurricane were a result of drowning, but some have been blamed on harsh consequences in the aftermath of the storm, such as an elderly couple who died after power to their oxygen machines shut off.
It is unfathomable in this day and age that so many people didn't take it upon themselves to get the hell out of the way.
Possessions are just things.
Lives are precious.
Yes, we say this from far up north.
And we understand people's desire to stay at their homes because it is all they have.
But for so many people to risk their lives is, frankly, insane.
Weather forecasters admit that Hurricane Ian's landfall was a challenge to forecast, and experts say the tools meteorologists use to assess and communicate its likely path were part of the problem.
Still, days in advance forecasters called for a Category 4 storm to hit Florida.
For sure, the storm's sudden change in direction as forecast on Sept. 26-27 -- putting landfall at Fort Myers on Sept. 28 instead of further north in Tampa -- caught those in the Fort Myers area by surprise and it appears it was too late for them to flee.
With the death toll mounting, meteorologists, emergency managers and others are asking how they could have done a better job making clear the storm would devastate the Fort Myers area.
Lessons must be learned for the next storm and people need to heed warnings by evacuating.