Posted
7/27/2009 06:23:00 PM
by Douglas
Remember when this was America and you could die in your house if you're stupid enough to stay after an emergency evacuation order is given? Well not anymore. They'll
haul your ass to jail.
Police can arrest people who don't leave town under mandatory evacuation orders under a new state law that goes into effect in the heart of Texas' hurricane season.
The law was passed this year and is effective Sept. 1. It also applies to other disasters, such as fires or floods.
As it stands, officials cannot compel people to evacuate, only warn that those who stay behind won't have any emergency services at their disposal.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports the new law gives county judges and mayors the power to authorize use of “reasonable force” to remove people from the area.
So just to recap, the county (or state) doesn't want to waste emergency resources on your dumb ass after you ignore a mandatory evacuation order. So how do they ameliorate that? By wasting emergency resources to arrest you after you say.
Make sense?