Posted 7/25/2007 05:58:00 PM by Douglas

Emergency officials tell you to get the hell out. You don't. They have to come get you. The county sends you a bill.

A man who shot himself in the leg while stranded at home during flooding is being asked to reimburse the county for his swift-water rescue because he ignored evacuation orders.

Parker County commissioners voted Monday to bill Edward Musick for $1,573.68, the estimated rescue cost.

"We understand that in emergencies, we all share the burden, but this one could have been avoided," said County Judge Mark Riley, adding that a lien should be filed against Musick's property if he fails to pay.

Well, couldn't all of these flooding rescues be avoided? Just because he did something even dumber than staying in a flooded house doesn't mean he's declined all emergency services, does it? What if he had a heart attack? Does that mean the county is just going to write him off?

On June 27 Riley ordered 2,000 people to evacuate homes along the Brazos River, where heavy rain had caused severe flooding.

Authorities said Musick refused to leave his home, which is on stilts but was surrounded by 4 or 5 feet of water. About 1:30 a.m. on July 1, Musick — who had a gun to protect his property against looters — accidentally shot himself in the leg and called 911, authorities said.

Rescuers reached Musick's house in an inflatable boat, but a fence post cut a hole in it, so they had to swim. The rescue took about four hours because they had to put him in a basket and pull it across the water to a National Guard truck, Riley said.

County officials asked the fire marshal to tabulate the rescue's cost, using the $9-per-hour reimbursement rates set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Riley said.

The problem I see with this is that the individual is asking other people to accept risk that he was encouraged to avoid, and that gets in the way of the state's power, but the state can't have it both ways.

If they issue an evacuation and you chose to stay, your own private medical health insurance can deny your claims on grounds of your dumbassedness. Ok, fine. No one is going to weep long for the 2X4 stuck in your kidney because you didn't want to leave behind your Hummel figurines.

But what about the other side of that coin? Those that died because they did what the government told them to do. If they get to wield their power to pick and chose whom they save, they'd better gall durned well prepare to make remediation for when there's a body count during an evacuation for a storm that didn't come.