« Would they rather go be even poorer in a different state or be dead in Florida? » one critic tweeted.
As Hurricane Ian damage assessments come in, the internet is flooded with images of people needing rescue from the storm’s wrath. Some on social media are criticizing Floridians’ decisions to stay put during the major storm rather than evacuate.
Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida on Wednesday, hitting the state’s west coast with the force of a major Category 4 hurricane. Sanibel Island was decimated in the storm and the Sanibel Causeway was so severely damaged that it cut residents of the island off from mainland Florida. Trapped residents had to be airlifted from their homes and while some applauded the heroics of the rescue, others questioned why it was necessary at all.
« [They are] very comfortable making lots of assumptions about the victims of the storm and refusing to extend empathy to them. They’re comfortable making lots of assumptions, » Gavin said.
Gavin ignited a debate on Twitter after she posted that « evacuating is hard, » something she said she knew from experience growing up « low-income on Sanibel Island. » Her tweet was liked more than 62,000 times and retweeted more than 8,000 times.
In response to her tweets, some people posted memes joking about low-income people living on Sanibel Island.
« ‘Low-income’ on Sanibel? That seems like an oxymoron, » one user tweeted.
« Low income on Sanibel Island? Please.
