As Hurricane Milton approaches many cities were largely deserted but some people decided to shelter in place
Most left when they were told to. But some chose to stay, even though officials warned Hurricane Milton would turn their homes into coffins.
Along Florida’s Gulf coast, where millions of people were urged to get out of harm’s way, cities were largely deserted on Wednesday afternoon as time ran out to evacuate. Those who remained were advised to shelter in place as best they could. Others who fled spoke of their dread at what, if anything, they would return to once the storm had passed.
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William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, told islanders who planned to stay to write their names, dates of birth and social security numbers on their limbs with Sharpies to help identify their bodies after the storm.
This isn’t a new suggestion. I remember this being told to people staying in spite of evac orders for a previous nasty storm, iirc it was Key West hearing it that time. It scared the shit out of some people back then and convinced them to leave, sadly the more times you hear something like that the less impact it has. And your neighbor managed to ride it out last time they said that…
I don’t know if they ever said it beforehand, but it’s been a very prominent bit of information ever since Katrina for obvious reasons.
In 1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood released their single Two Tribes. It’s about that perennial eighties trope of the imminent planet-ending nuclear apocalypse we were all hanging about for at the time. The track and remixes contain spoken samples from at least two UK government publications regarding what to do when the bombs came - it mentions id-ing corpses in a similar manner. There was a booklet sent out to every house, from the government, called “Protect and Survive” It’s hilariously optimistic about my chances of survival.
I know of that, but didn’t know about Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s song. Raymond Briggs’ book/animated film When the Wind Blows was also a response to Protect and Survive and there’s a Young Ones episode that mocks it as well.
When the Wind Blows is a perfect response to Protect and Survive… I simply never connected the dots as a kid. I don’t know about the Young Ones getting in on the act. Gonna have a look for that later. Every now and again I stop to think whether it might’ve been best if someone had pushed the button and called time on the eighties - and humanity as we know it. I can’t believe we dodged the nuclear apocalypse (so far) and still ended-up squabbling and artificially divided.
The Young Ones episode is called Bomb and the manual is directly referenced and I believe the text they read from it is real too.
And it’s on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKc_mrRhfII
Geo-blocked… but it’s on iplayer so will try and get that working instead. I’ve been told US / commercial-station versions sometimes miss out the band. Don’t know if is true - but looking forward to seeing Dexy’s on this episode. I have a copy of Protect and Survive. 50p cost and a foreword dated May, 1980. Page 24: “If a death occurs while you are confined to the fall-out room place the body in another room and cover it as securely as possible. Attach an identification.”
It used to be shown in the U.S. on MTV in the 80s. They kept the bands, but cut the episodes down for time so they could show commercials and occasionally cut out the jokes they thought Americans would get super offended by. There’s a bit in the episode Party where a cop tries to arrest someone and they turn around and the cop says, “oh sorry, I thought you were a N–.” I think that’s some pretty funny commentary about racist cops, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t have played well in 1980s America.
Also, I had them all taped from the MTV broadcasts except the episode Nasty, which I didn’t see until years later when I could buy commercial tapes. I’m guessing the fact that it was about video nasties made it too over-the-top at the time even though you never actually see footage from one.
Edit: They also used to show Monty Python’s Flying Circus but they put a content warning beforehand, done in the style of a Gilliam animation that told you to not watch if you’re offended. But come on, it’s Python we’re talking about here, not a Frankie Boyle comedy routine.