Survey says...

The Daniel Island News conducted a survey among our readers, using the paper’s email data base, to assess how the community responded to last week’s hurricane threat. A total of 124 people took part in the survey.

The majority of respondents stayed close to home as Hurricane Florence approached last week, but regardless of where they spent their time, most seemed grateful for the opportunity to just be together. “Even the most unwelcome turn of events can bring bright outcomes,” noted one reader. Below is a snapshot of their responses.

How did you spend your time during the evacuation/preparations?

Stayed Local:

- “We took many golf cart rides to check out which restaurants were open and ate and drank our way around the island...We are on diets this week.”

- “Reading, writing, gardening, cooking- all my personal pleasures that fall by the wayside when I let life get too busy.”

- “Watched lots of soccer on TV, board games and soggy bike rides.”

- “Working from home, redoing the floor in a room, hanging out with kids.”

- “Movies and household chores. Much different if we had lost power.”

- “Bicycle riding was great with the reduction of vehicles on the island.”

- “Work and readying the house in case we had to leave if the storm changed direction.”

- “Watching Weather Channel.”

- “Worked and tracked the storm via www.nhc.noaa.gov to prepare clear direction and communication to our staff/teams, and their families.”

- “We just moved into our newly built home so we unpacked, installed light fixtures, etc. and ordered rugs and fun things for the house.”

- “Kids migrated from house to house and had sleepovers. Parents played cards, watched movies, cleaned/organized the house, ate and drank too much and went to neighborhood hurricane parties.”

- “Cooking, eating, spending time with family.”

- “Watching Josh Marthers’ weather updates.”

- “Monitoring storm, preparing to move if necessary.”

Evacuated/Left the area:

- “Went to an Atlanta Braves game - free for evacuees. Had a pedicure. Purchased an Apple iPad. Met some people from Johns Island.”

- “No sense staying and risking our lives. We chose to take advantage of a mini vacation by going to Disney. Heading south seemed like the safest option to escape the hurricane’s path.”

- “We went to our beach house in Hyannisport on Cape Cod, MA. We boarded, spent time with friends and family and monitored the hurricane via The Weather Channel.”

- “We went to Columbia. We had planned to attend the Carolina game there over the weekend anyway. Then it was canceled.”

- “Rented a VRBO house with another family at Tybee Island, GA. Hung out on beach, went on a tour in Savannah, swam in pool, made s’mores at outdoor fire pit, played games, and enjoyed the local food.”

- “Savannah. Had a great time visiting historical sites and eating out.”

- “Traveled to St. Augustine, FL, where we had a few days to reconnect with friends we had not seen in 35 years or more! Great time!”

- “We went to St. Louis, stopping in Asheville on the way. We spent our time with our daughters and grandchildren.”

- “We shopped and visited with friends and family (in Atlanta).”

- “We considered heading to Charlotte as we had done in 2016 to stay with a multitude of friends, but with dog at 17 years old, just was not an option this year.”

- “(Went to) Tennessee and we made it into a family vacation. Horseback riding, Dollywood, zip lining and other tourist things.”

- “We went to St. Augustine, Florida. We did some sightseeing and visited with old friends who live there.”

- “Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. Played golf and tennis and lots of UNO!”

What has been the biggest takeaway from this experience for you?

- “We have some great restaurants for a small island and the staff of each were wonderful.”

- “The confusion as to where to go since forecast kept changing. Better to be safe than sorry.”

- “How prepared our local governments are for these storms. Now much I rely on local TV stations for news that matters. A lot has been learned from Hugo and Katrina. And now Florence for North Carolina.”

- “Do not take our safety for granted. People’s lives were impacted severely less than 100 miles away.”

- “You never know which way the wind is going to blow.”

- “McMaster jumped the gun.”

- “It is a gamble to stay or go. Very stressful thinking do I stay or go?”

- “In uncertainty, err on the safe side even if it turns out to be nothing.”

- “Lots of prep work, waiting around and the putting the house back together. But after living through Hugo, I will take all of the inconvenience and feel grateful that we were spared.”

- “Gratitude for both daughters, who continue to welcome us in their homes, and gratefulness for neighbors, who made pre storm steps to ensure our property was safe.”

- “Happy to not have had the disaster Wilmington and New Bern had. We have family in both of these areas. Some who stayed and others that unfortunately did not heed the warning to leave and are traumatized dramatically from the experience of having their house inundated with water. These things are unpredictable. We got lucky. It could have gone the other way. When they say leave, leave.”

- “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And gratitude for the family time and safety of our home.”

- “For Charleston area, should have been a voluntary not mandatory evacuation.”

- “Thankful.”

- “Stay away from media with paid advertising, and stick with the factual predictions.”

- “Keep informed about the predictions about the path and strength of the hurricane. We were prepared to evacuate if the threat was credible.”

- “This was another non-hurricane, needless-evacuation, with businesses losing tons of income in the process. Next time we’re staying home until it’s truly happening.”

- “Mother Nature rules!”

- “They way overreacted, called a mandatory evacuation way too early instead of a voluntary evacuation first and shut down everything too early. It killed businesses, people lost wages, and hurt the economy greatly!”

- “Be prepared and thank God when the impact is less than anticipated.”

- “A progressive evacuation order would have made more sense.”

- “Stay away from social media fear mongers…”

- “We have to remember that even though this time was a false alarm for us, it could have been devastating. Just look at the people 100 miles north of us.”

- “Fortunately we were able to get out and we took full advantage of the mandatory evacuation.”

- “Even the most unwelcome turn of events can bring bright outcomes.”

- “Leave when government says to.”

- “Begin calling pet friendly hotels in neighboring states when a storm is forming just off of Africa, rather than waiting for directional path forecast. We waited till Tuesday to try for pet friendly hotel room in GA and found no available rooms.”

- “It’s important to listen to the local weather forecasters (in addition to the national forecast); they can give info specific to our area.”

- “Be prepared. It’s not just a Boy Scout motto.”

- “Having a detailed plan is everything.”

- “People always rise to the occasion and show their best sides! During our evacuation we met many fellow evacuees, including several from Charleston, and had an instant bond with them. People in St. Augustine and all along the way were kind and caring and wished us well. We had to postpone the closing on our house here as well as our new home in NY. We were planning to move last week but the truck was unable to get to us after the lane reversals. All the attorneys both here and in NY were understanding and flexible in working around our need to postpone. We made and cancelled 5 hotel reservations at the last minute as our plans and moving schedule were changed and never once did Hilton charge us a penalty, although they could. All of these experiences once again affirmed our faith in the goodness of people.”

- “Order your generator early!”

- “How blessed we are in Charleston to have this hurricane leave us alone.”

- “Thankful we were spared and had family time together.”

- “Need elected officials to care about the area and the people 365 days a year, not just in a crisis and with plenty of air time. Focus should be at neighborhood level, not a whole county and town.”

- “Days off are to be seized! It was a lovely hurrication.”

- “I feel lucky it did not hit us, as I think that would’ve been a very big deal. A lot of people think it wasn’t a big deal, but I think it’s safer not to gamble with people’s lives. If it hit us, it would’ve been a different story. I am glad I live in a place that cares for human lives rather than risking them.”

- “To buy hurricane shutters sooner than later.”

- “Use your own discretion and make a balanced decision as time gets closer. And pay attention to the NOAA website—their only aim is to give accurate scientific data, not to prey on the masses with fear-based sensationalism as does most of the mainstream media.”

- “The NEXT one could be way different.”

- “That we never know what can happen. It’s always best to play it safe.”

- “These storms are so unpredictable. Also, just because it’s a cat 1 didn’t mean it can’t be absolutely catastrophic as seen in North Carolina.”

- “That Publix & Refuel are great for DI during bad weather.”

Did you stay or did you go?

Stayed – 63%
Evacuated – 36%
(124 total respondents)

If you evacuated where did you go?

Amelia Island, FL
Atlanta, GA
Asheville, NC
Auburn, GA
Bluffton, SC (Sun City)
Boston, MA
Cape Cod, MA
Columbia, SC
Gainesville, FL
Hilton Head, SC
Jekyll Island, GA
Orlando/Walt Disney World, FL
St. Augustine, FL
Tampa, FL
Virginia
Tennessee
The Villages (FL)
Tybee Island, GA
Valdosta, GA
Washington DC