Isaac: Why Some Stay When Storms Hit

Question the motives of those who stay behind during severe storms, and you’re already on your way to looking like an oblivious plutocrat, even if your name’s not George W. Bush. But it’s a fair question to ask, because even though the answer will often involve the issue of financial resources, there has to be reasons that extend beyond mere money—reasons psychological in nature. There are, and those reasons get a thorough fleshing out at MSNBC.com today. “{A]s the thinking goes,” writes Melissa Dahl, “if your neighbor tells you he’s staying, then you might stay, too….Some of the 79 Katrina survivors interviewed in the 2009 study [conducted by Psychological Science] did have the resources to go, but they didn’t have the heart to leave.” Many who have lived in the same geographical realm for the entirety of their existences have been conditioned to distrust outsiders. And, anyway, it’s hard, for some, to keep hearing threats of hurricanes, then see those threats come to nothing and still be moved by subsequent threats. Some even stay to help those left behind: a logic so circular, it spirals out beyond any center of safety or rationality.