As the Water Rose
“Please, evacuate now in an orderly fashion! The hurricane will make landfall in the next hour. You must leave now!” came the plea from the trucks driving up and down the streets.
Sutton looked out the window and saw very little water for a hurricane, and decided to stay put. He had weathered far worse than the hurricane that was headed his way. The last he had heard it was a category two. Although he knew it was possible for the hurricane to grow in intensity, he felt that it was unlikely.
The next time the trucks drove by the carpets were getting soggy, but Sutton still thought he could weather the storm.
As the water continued to climb, Sutton knew it was too late to leave, so he moved to the upper level. Eventually, those carpets became soggy, too.
When the roof came off in the middle of the night, Sutton knew that he should have listened to the pleas to leave. It was too late, and he knew it even as he was treading water and waiting for the storm to clear enough for the rescue helicopters to search for survivors.
When the rescue teams flew over, Sutton was unable to hear them and was not found until two days later. His last thought was that he would evacuate the next time.