[Shawnee123]

You live in an area all your life. You have kids, you have aunts and uncles, you have parents, you have neighbors. You know the guy at the grocery store and you pray for his sick wife. You run into old school teachers from time to time. Your "living there" constitutes much more than just where you physically reside. It's a part of you.

Sure, people move away all the time. They don't move their entire lives, and the people they've known and the places they've been: for some this seems it would be pretty tough to do, to start all over somewhere else.

I'd gladly move from here, but there are things that keep me here: my family, my friends, the networks I've built as a result of living here my entire life. I could do it, I'm an adventurous sort, but I know there are people who would rather expire than leave everything they know.

To say "live elsewhere" to a huge population doesn't seem reasonable or feasible. Yes, there was a devastating weather catastrophe. As Redux pointed out, there are ways to prevent so much devastation. It's not like it's happening every other year.