A Veteran Reporter Who Covered Hurricane Katrina Has a Grim Warning for Anyone in Hurricane Florence’s Path Who Doesn’t Evacuate
A veteran reporter who covered Hurricane Katrina in 2005 gave a dark warning on Tuesday to people refusing to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Florence: “Write your Social Security number on your arm, so officials can identify your body.”
Mark Schleifstein has been reporting on hurricanes and severe weather for the New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune since 1984, and he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Category 5 Hurricane Katrina.
Hurricane Florence is expected to start pounding the US around North Carolina’s border with South Carolina as early as Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest predictions. Evacuations have been ordered in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Officials say the biggest danger is from storm surges and heavy rain, which the NHC says could cause floodwaters as high as 13 feet in some areas.
Live along areas of the N.C./S.C. coast ordered to evacuate and not going to do it? Keep an axe in your attic. And write your Social Security number on your arm, so officials can identify your body. pic.twitter.com/ra3sfnmX0S
— Mark Schleifstein (@MSchleifstein) September 11, 2018
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Schleifstein’s advice on Tuesday to those residents who won’t leave their homes is informed by his articles on Katrina. He covered the more than 1,800 deaths from the hurricane, many of which were due to flooding. (Read more from “A Veteran Reporter Who Covered Hurricane Katrina Has a Grim Warning for Anyone in Hurricane Florence’s Path Who Doesn’t Evacuate” HERE)
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