what is the thought process that goes into not evacuating? I'm not judging anyone but would like to understand (without ever having to experience it).
The fact that it's a huge hassle to evacuate along with your family for a few days (you have to find a place to stay, which either isn't cheap or is inconvenient, and either travel for many hours in traffic by car, which hours long waits by the few fuel stations that have gas, or spend a veritable fortune on flights and get stuck for hours in the airport), and you're opening up your home to looting. Floridians are relatively jaded about hurricanes, and the fact is that many storms that are predicted for weeks to ravage an area end up blowing off course or losing steam. Evacuating entails giving up a lot up front, on the chance that the meteorologists are correct and their houses that are built for withstanding hurricanes really aren't capable of enduring this one. Many would rather risk it and tough it out.