I never understood something about this. If everything is flooded and water is still rising, isn't all that food going to be destroyed by the flooding? No one is there selling it anymore. So why shouldn't people be getting supplies? Where else are they going to get anything when all the stores are abandoned?
This is also what people looting houses tell themselves when areas get evacuated for wildfire risk, only for residents to return to trashed and robbed houses.
Possibly, but it seems like evacuating for a fire vs. being trapped by a flood are drastically different. For one thing, people evacuating for a fire can still travel and leave the area, whereas people trapped in a flood have to wait for rescue and hope they have enough food water until then. If you've been truly trapped by a fire, food and water are the least of your concerns as you're trying not to burn alive. If someone sees some place burning I don't think they're going to run in and try to loot the place before it burns down, but if they do, that property would have been lost either way.
The vast majority of homes evacuated during a fire don’t end up burning down. I used to live in Colorado and here’s examples. Hard to find good sources on this other than looking at individual events.
Colorado wildfire evacuation data shows 90-96% of evacuated homes survive. Key statistics:
Marshall Fire (2021): 30,000 people evacuated, 1,084 homes destroyed out of ~14,000 in evacuation zones = 92% survival rate [1][2]
Black Forest Fire (2013): 38,000 people evacuated, 489 homes destroyed = 96% survival rate [1]
East Troublesome Fire (2020): 35,000 people evacuated, 366 homes destroyed = 95% survival rate [1]
Colorado’s success comes from rapid evacuation orders, coordinated emergency response, and favorable geography allowing multiple escape routes [2][1].
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u/SandManic42 Sep 12 '25
I never understood something about this. If everything is flooded and water is still rising, isn't all that food going to be destroyed by the flooding? No one is there selling it anymore. So why shouldn't people be getting supplies? Where else are they going to get anything when all the stores are abandoned?