Monday, February 25, 2008

When is it time to leave?

Residents of Leadville, Colorado have been living on the edge while the possibility of a major disaster looms. The DenverChannel.com, an ABC affiliate reported the ongoing threat and what is being done to prevent loss of life.

“Federal officials made sure residents of the Village of East Fork were aware of the test as there is increasing concern a nearby mine drainage tunnel will burst. If that happens, officials said a billion gallons of toxic water would flood the community and countless others downstream.”

Understandably many of the town’s residents are having trouble sleeping, wondering if the flood will occur during the night or if they might not hear the siren’s warning. I have a solution; get out now and sleep peacefully in a safe location until the problem has been resolved.

When I was working as a police officer I often ran across domestic situations where one “significant other” explained how the other “significant other” intended to return later with the intent to inflict bodily harm or worse. I would offer the same advice, get out now and sleep peacefully until the problem has been resolved. If you know your boyfriend is high on drugs, has told you he will cut his initials in your chest and watch you die a slow agonizing death for having cheated on him by sleeping with his two best drinking buddies while he was passed out earlier in the evening; why wait for him to return and hope the police can come to your rescue?

It makes no sense to remain in a location when the odds are “highly probable” for serious bodily injury or loss of life are understood. This falls into the category of live to fight another day. Is your life, your family’s well being worth the risk of staying even one more hour? Once you’re aware of a problem and decide to ignore the odds, who takes the blame for the final outcome; “The sirens weren’t loud enough”, “The warnings came too late”, “I was too dumb to get out” are what will be written on your grave stone marker.

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