Rescue attempts should always be made regardless of the situation. There are numerous reasons people fail to evacuate and this can apply to all natural disasters including fire as well. They have already accepted the risk that they could die. They had their reasons, they lived, of course rescue them. It's unfair to judge all with such broad brushstrokes I'm sure many had no intentions ever of putting rescuers at risk. Would you let your neighbor drown? or burn?

Edit* keyword Rescuers, it's rescuers job to rescue.

Rescue all but charge them for the cost of the operation. If the rescuers are harmed in any way, charge them for the medical costs too. People quickly learn when their pockets are affected.

If you are told to go, you go.
If you stay, you're on your own until it's safe for others to come in.

I'm tired of people defying logical directives, for their own safety, then
whining about how they need "help" when the unintended consequences
of their actions come back around to bite them in the ass.

The only exceptions should be if people are either too poor, or too old or infirm or disabled, to go on their own.
In those cases, they should be helped to evacuate.
If they refuse, leave them.

No first responder should be risking their life to rescue someone who willingly
defied evacuation orders.

Conversely, people have the right to refuse to comply.
People have the right to be stupid.
If they die, it's on them.

Once a mandatory evacuation order is issued, the cost of any rescue should be charged to the people who refused to leave and now find themselves needing rescue.

This reminds me of four out-of-state men who foolishly took the most dangerous, difficult route, Liberty Ridge, while attempting to climb Mt. Rainer, WA. They could not descend. "How will I get down?" is uppermost in my mind while climbing.

Their tents blew away. That's another safety rule: Secure your gear. It's common sense. Tie your tent to a boulder, stump or tree. Weigh down tent stakes with rocks. Rockfall continually rained down, injuring them. Extreme cold.

"Rangers were unable to retrieve the men for days because windy conditions and poor visibility prevented crews from getting to them or dropping off supplies. As many as 33 people worked on this rescue mission.

"Officials closed Liberty Ridge in the interest of public safety until the rescue mission was completed.

"Liberty Ridge route is one of the more technical and dangerous routes on Mount Rainier and was the same route where a climbing party was hit by rock fall resulting in one death and two injured climbers last week," the park said.

These men should pay for their expensive rescue.

[cnn.com]

It should be mandatory evacuation with help for the elderly and disabled. Mandatory meaning no one gets to stay behind! And the. No rebuilding on these areas. Instead of paying out insurance only if people rebuild in the same spot, pay them to move! The insurance laws are crazy.

There are three main types who remain: Those with a great sense of self confidence, prepare well, and believe they have the capacity to ride it out. The rank stubborns who refuse to leave their home and belongings and hope for the best. And the elderly, disabled and people without means (lumped together because often the elderly do not drive) who have no way to leave, nowhere to go, and lack any resources on either count. Rescuers go in when they can after the worst of the storm passes.The author cites only the stubborns and assumes EVERYONE has the same options to evacuate. That’s classist and racist. Who stayed behind in Katrina? The same three types above, with the poor being the largest (but not only) group. I suppose the author would say they deserved their fate for staying. Sorry if this is harsh, but where the fuck is people’s humanity for crying out loud?

I was a volunteer fire fighter some years ago. One of the most important lessons we were taught is not to become another victim. There is danger but they are trained to follow procedures that minimize the risk to the rescuer. The job is to save others but not at the cost of your own safety.

The only exceptions I would make, is for people who aren't physically of financially able to evacuate on their own. In those instances though, they should have had help before the storm hit.

Some states, including New Jersey, California, New York and South Carolina, have passed legislation providing for criminal sanctions for failing to obey an evacuation order.

"When a person chooses not to evacuate in light of mandatory orders to do so, they risk their lives as well as the first responders, who may need to rescue them. Typically, a Storm Rider changes his mind after ignoring the evacuation order and realizes the gravity of the forecast.

According to New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, Storm Riders were “stupid,” “selfish,” and put first responders in danger. The National Weather Service even sent the following warning to those considering not evacuating: “THINK ABOUT THE RESCUE/RECOVERY TEAMS WHO WILL RESCUE YOU IF YOU ARE INJURED OR RECOVER YOUR REMAINS IF YOU DO NOT SURVIVE.”

"Despite warnings, however, many residents chose not to leave their homes. Their failure to evacuate raises the potential of both criminal and civil liability."

[fromthesidebar.com]

Everyone is important no matter how stubborn or stupid they are.

There are a lot of reason people don't evacuate. It's their job to go rescue people regardless of the circumstance.

What kind of world would we have if people did things that made total sense?

Itsnot like we own the rescuers, and direct them like pawns who must occasionally be sacrified. The people who work in that field tend to have a desire to save lives, no matter what the said lives, are worth to you or me.

You make a decision - you live (or maybe die) by the consequences

Back in 1992 when I was a volunteer ( all were volunteers btw) with the State Emergency Service here in Broken Hill, Australia we had a summer storm, nowhere quite near the scale of a Cyclone/Hurricane but truly bad enough btw, where houses were flooded, roofs torn off, trees up-rooted and the normally dry, sandy creeks were just torrents of water running at depths of up to 8 to 10 feet.
Half of our crew were working around the clock pumping out flooded houses, covering torn off roofs, etc, while the rest were racing from one place to the next rescuing rank idiots who decided to IGNORE warnings and would, instead, try racing cars through flooded creek crossings, thankfully no-one actually drowned BUT 4 of our crew were swept away down stream a number of times during these rescues and could have quite easily been drowned.
Yet those rank idiots that needed rescuing because of their stupidity did NOT even get cautioned or fined, etc, by the Authorities afterwards, so on one hand, I say rescue them, but on the other hand TRY to educate them that their own stupidity ACTUALLY has the consequences and chances that IT can/will cost the lives of others.

You can't fix stupid but you should charge the hell out them in AZ.we have the stupid motorist law if you drive into a running wash and they have to rescue you ,you have to pay for the cost, of course they don't enforce it very often they should.

Rescuers signed up to rescue.. regardless of the reason, it's their calling.

Due to climate change, Eastern Washington has suffered with massive wildfires. I was evacuated in 2015 due to the Sleepy Hollow wildfire in Wenatchee that came within a block of my home.

Spent the night at Eastmont High School across the Columbia River with people who had lost their homes. The Red Cross had set up a shelter.

With howling winds, I could see the wildfire heading toward me. So, I was packed and ready to leave when policemen knocked on my door.

Now I have a written evacuation list in order of priority.

[seattletimes.com]

When Mount Saint Helen erupted in 1980, some people chose to die and refused to evacuate. They must have been suicidal.

[rarehistoricalphotos.com]

@LiterateHiker; You call them stubborn.

I call them desperate.

90% of those who live dangerously close to the natural elements do so because they must stay there.

They have no choice.

It's their livelihood to "live near/on the water's edge".

the other 10% Live there because it's beautiful, isolated, private, primitive, and enjoyable.
...and they're paying insurance rates most of us can't touch to live there...but they look at it as a bet. They're betting that a storm DOES take out their property. That way they can rebuild bigger, stronger, and higher above sea level.

They're not bad people; just very wealthy.

Homes on Outer Banks should be bulldozed and laws enacted not to replace them. OUR insurance premiums and taxes go up when dumbasses think they can build again in places where homes should never have been built in the first place. Some people are so stupid you have to slap them to remind them to breathe, and some have advanced degrees and a lot of money, with no excuse for such lunacy. The same can be said of those living in Hurricane Alleys everywhere. The INDIANS who were here for 12,000 years never built permanent structures in those places.... TAKE A FUCKING HINT! Pure egotism to think we are masters of our environment when precisely the opposite is true.

We like to romanticize first responders, and think they should go whenever called. But let’s take a look into who would be the responders to go in the case of someone who refuses to evacuate when told to do so:

They are the patrol officers who would at another time write your report for you running a red light.

They would be the firefighters who would respond for your kitchen being on fire.

They are the Paramedics and EMT’s who come and take you to the hospital because you don’t want to listen to your doctor, and eat those Big Macs on a daily basis.

We would like to think there are infinite specially trained personnel and equipment capable of performing tasks of extraordinary heroism, and think that “they are doing their jobs”.

Fact of the matter is those who are capable of evacuation and choose to not, you are putting us first responders who are NOT trained to do what you ask into a situation where we have to go.

It is the false belief that we are capable to perform these feats that provides a false sense of ability for people to disregard what experts say.

Food for thought for those who say “they have to go...” Yes, we go, and put our lives on the line in situations for which we are not trained.

Carry that even further. Let us not use public funds for rebuilding or economic relief for those who have knowingly built homes and facilities in flood-prone areas and/or in areas prone to storm damage.

Hard decisions. But agree rescue attempts should not be made till it is safe for the responders. As they have a no win job at times. They also need to look out for there own safety plus arriving safely back to there family’s.

Nope. Until the immediate danger has passed, these emergency responders shouldn’t have to go save them. Reminds me of the wildfires in Arizona a number of years ago where people built their mansions in those fire zones and then expected the firefighters to save them and their property, and a number of firefighters were killed trying to do exactly that. Also, these people who build on these barrier islands or coastlines should not be bailed out by taxpayers either.

I'm not opposed to invoking your point of view as a rule of law. However, I do think it should be made clear via PBS etc that this policy is in effect.

I say this, because far too often, officials will evacuate an area in "an abundance of caution". There is always some judgment involved. However, if you should choose your judgment over an official "abundance of caution", you should be on your own.