I feel like people prep not to actually accomplish anything but to just feel better about the situation and calm some internal fears they have. Like sure have a bag ready but if something goes wrong quickly you need to actually be able to get to that bag. Like people who leave a loaded gun in the kitchen in case of intruders, well what happens if they come in the kitchen window while you're on the toilet ? Not to mention, what can people even take ? If a wildfire threatened my area most people don't have their own vehicles and would be fucked. That's not even considering all the tourists that got bussed in. So I could take a few extra people if they each have a small bag. I don't know how many people in Houston own their own vehicles, I imagine it's better than here, but well off people hang out with each other. The people who don't own vehicles probably know a few more who don't and only have a few friends with them. I don't think it's cool to really look for reasons to place blame on individual's if they didn't know how prepared to be or were told about the area they lived in. People move where opportunity is and honestly you can only be so prepared. It's not going to be the well off healthy people they find dead.
well, i think you're mixing metaphors here. there's a big difference between having a bug out bag in case of emergency and having an exit strategy in case of (insert your local area's natural disaster here), and having a loaded gun in case of intruders. I mean, for one thing where I live it's literally illegal to keep a loaded gun anywhere. ammo and gun have to be stored separately. But also, an intruder entering while you've got your pants down is a significantly more immediate threat than most natural disasters, which we have a chance to see coming. The exception being for earthquake, and Tidal waves, though you normally have at least a few minutes notice for tidal waves for all the help it'll give you, though even for them, if you live in an area where these are an issue, where are ways you can prepare and be ready. A natural disaster is not an intruder sneaking in the night. If anything, we are the intruders who put our homes in places they shouldn't really be. I also don't place the blame squarely on individuals. Yes, you have responsibility to know and to be prepared, but your local government also has a responsibility to inform and prepare its citizens, or at the very least give them the tools to prepare themselves. I also understand that like anything, the poor, elderly, and minorities are the ones most seriously affected. As KB pointed out, the way the situation is in your country, you basically get subsidized to live in unsafe places. That's crazy, but who lives in subsidized areas? The poor, the elderly, and minorities. For that final point, i have no solution. As the system stands there is literally no way to help these people until it gets to the point you have to call FEMA. It's horrible. I don't know, maybe you could evacuate them early? Have a focused evacuation with busses and trucks, etc on these likely hardest hit areas? Even that requires the city to be prepared, and the people to live there to know that there's an inbound crisis situation and to be prepared, which others have pointed out is a big ask. If your municipality's doesn't have a strategy, even if you have your own plan, the odds are against you. This is what government is for (says the socialist in me with all apologies for the libertarians in the audience).
The metaphor meant to show how maybe you can get to the bag and maybe you can't. Are people just supposed to bring this bag everywhere they go just in case? In that case the bag will need to be pretty small and only contain necessities that won't last very long. What about a single mother with multiple kids and no car ? She can only fit so much in that stroller and it won't last her long. Elderly people can't carry much but they need to get places as well. Sitting in their home when a disaster hits can lead to them being forgotten. I mean what blame are we placing on somebody who wasn't prepared enough in this situation ? Only having enough diapers for a few days as opposed to a week ? I don't really understand how to blame somebody for not being prepared enough for a flood. Shit just sucks.