Jeff Snyder
EF5
Your not just talking about people who know better, there are thousands of people who are elderly and disabled. Others have ridden out Hurricanes before and may have little sense of how each Hurricane and event is different. I don't know why you want to punish someone who has almost drowned. I know it is against all logic not to goto a shelter but in a city of hundreds of thousands there are many many unique cases.
Of the rescues I've seen on media coverage, non have appeared to have been folks who are elderly or disabled. Yes, I'm sure there are lots of folks who fit that case, but let's be real -- there were tons of folks who just didn't think it would happen to them. Despite the warnings, the unprecented language from city officials (and meteorologists), and so forth, many folks just didn't think it would happen to them.
Also, this isn't a "punishment". Why not just stop giving tickets to old people who are pulled over for speeding? Why punish the elderly for traffic violations? I'm not a mean person -- I'm not saying these folks should be tarred and feathered! A fine to recoup the costs incurred by these rescues isn't unreasonable IMO.
EDIT: Realistically and practically, this wouldn't work... There's no way to group those who physically couldn't leave versus those who had the capability to leave but chose not to. This is more of an argument on pricinple. In addition, for those who lost everything, they literally have no money to pay such a fee. So, again, this is more of principle argument than anything else. It's a disastrous event, and I certainly feel for those who have perished or those who have lost everything they have.