I can't imagine going through Ivan at night....that must have been extremely frightening. Why do they always seem to make landfall at 4am?
I read about the people who decided to stay and didn't make it. Unfortunately, some people are willing to risk their lives to avoid the inconvenience of evacuating or they just think that they will make it through it. That's very sad, but it happens too often even though they are warned to leave. If an offical came to my house telling me that if I don't evacuate I'd have to give them the name of the next of kin, that would jolt me to the core.
Is the hassle of evacuating worth your life? Do they think of the people that love them that they are leaving behind? Maybe it's just me, but I don't think I could do that to my family. However, it's still very sad.