I don't know that even locally people could recognize a neighbor vs.a stranger. I had friends who lived in a neighborhood with a road that flooded with any rain storm. I can imagine that if you can't get out of your neighborhood and your home is flooded, you would start knocking on doors for help. Even in the D.C. area (including suburbs and exurbs) so few people really know their neighbors enough to be recognized. Even if you were not a stranger, would they know?

Anonymous wrote:Also I have a hard time believing she didn't have a cell phone or tried to call 911 herself.

Even if she had cell phone, and had managed to hold on to a purse or had it in her pocket, and it had stayed dry, which child would she have let go of to get it out and dial?

Anonymous wrote:Wow. It's amazing how many people seem to want to blame this woman when I think the man who didn't let her in his house is far, far worse. They both appear to have had pretty bad judgement but his lack of compassion is disturbing.

Genuine question - why are people so willing to pile on her and give him a pass? Is it a control thing? Do you picture yourself in her shoes and think you would have been smarter so this wouldn't have happened to you, therefore it must be her fault? Is it because you genuinely think he did the right thing? Are you all so frightened of strangers that you honestly believe he should get a complete pass because we, as a society, can no longer be expected to help our fellow man in a hurricane? Is there some reason that you just don't trust her? Honestly. What gives? This woman just lost her children, yet practically every comment I read about this story crucifies her. Why?

PP, I in now way am wanting to place blame on this poor, poor woman. My heart goes out to her and I can't even being to imagine the horror she went through that night. The absolute terror, the frantic rush as waters rose around her, not being able to find anyone to help, finding apparently ONE man and him not being willing to come out.... seeing her boys swept away... still no help....and the hypothermia that must have set in soon after -- she was completely (or almost) completely unsheltered during the entire storm.... only finally flagging down police about 12 hours later.

But it seems as if the media is rushing to judgment about the man she has identified as not helping her. People are talking about white and black, and "No one helped" and kitty Genovese and so on. And that's just wrong.

I don't expect this woman herself to be capable of anything. She went through a horrible ordeal, and I don't hold her responsible for anything she says right now. But what she should be saying, and what her family should be saying, is how horrible she feels for putting herself and her kids in harm's way. She made, apparently, a LOT of mistakes. Something lots of people do, without such horrible consequences. But in her case, her bad decisions led to a horrible outcome.

It's not right to do all that, and then blame people for not helping you get out of the horrible tragedy you find yourself in.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. It's amazing how many people seem to want to blame this woman when I think the man who didn't let her in his house is far, far worse. They both appear to have had pretty bad judgement but his lack of compassion is disturbing.

Genuine question - why are people so willing to pile on her and give him a pass? Is it a control thing? Do you picture yourself in her shoes and think you would have been smarter so this wouldn't have happened to you, therefore it must be her fault? Is it because you genuinely think he did the right thing? Are you all so frightened of strangers that you honestly believe he should get a complete pass because we, as a society, can no longer be expected to help our fellow man in a hurricane? Is there some reason that you just don't trust her? Honestly. What gives? This woman just lost her children, yet practically every comment I read about this story crucifies her. Why?

Yes, this mother's loss is absolutely heartbreaking. Hope she can eventually recover enough to move on. I don't see anyone being unduly critical of the mother, although many people are very puzzled by the decision of a mother to drive her two young children through an evacuation zone in the middle of a dangerous hurricane.

Anonymous wrote:Why was the man at home if his house was near the water and in an evacuation zone?

...because he was very intelligent and knew more than the weather professionals.