Evacuation Quotes

“The veneer of civilization fell away to reveal desperate animals, humanity at their worst.”
― Travis Luedke, The Nightlife: Paris

“There were no rules, only consequences.”
― Hilary McKay, The Skylarks’ War

“Sitting down on a crate, Helen felt them, felt the vibrancy they had left behind like twilight after the sun is gone. She tried to picture their faces, their voices, but the details already blurred. They were slipping away from her, for they were never hers to keep. Turning her eyes to the ocean, Helen thought of all those boatloads of children on the water, needing somewhere warm and safe, and yet the ocean hadn’t listened to her plea. Everything she’d asked the universe had been ignored, snubbed. As she watched the waves, she tried to find peace in their steady heartbeat, but none came. The only thing she felt was betrayed.
Betrayed and so utterly lonely.”
― Corinne Beenfield, The Ocean's Daughter :

“Up and down the lanes, the last unevacuated townspeople wake, groan, sigh. Spinsters, prostitutes, men over sixty. Procrastinators, collaborators, disbelievers, drunks. Nuns of every order. The poor. The stubborn. The blind.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“When the polar ice advanced as far as Nottingham, my school was closed and I was evacuated to Mars.”
― Sophia McDougall, Mars Evacuees

“There were not rules, only consequences”
― Hilary McKay, The Skylarks’ War

“Still, the roads were fairly clear of traffic, aside from those families that did not wish to take a chance by sticking around and waiting to see what happened next. Those were the smart ones.”
― Jason Medina, The Manhattanville Incident: An Undead Novel

“Others, however, would look over the children as if they were produce. They’d only speak to the nearest officer, never lowering their eyes to the young ones. Instead, they looked down their noses as though to distance themselves. “I’ll take these,” Helen would see them mouth, waving a finger above the small heads. It was a moment the children would have branded on their minds, Helen was sure of it, and the pain of it turned her stomach to lead.”
― Corinne Beenfield, The Ocean's Daughter :

“There, with bare feet and drenched brown hair, crouched a child. Upon hearing Helen, the little one looked up until Helen peered into the eyes of a tiny girl. She seemed to wear only an enormous men’s sweater, with no identifying tag pinned to the front. Her knees were pulled up inside of it, thin pale ankles peeking out from underneath. The wool shirt alone was dry, as the rest of the girl’s head, hands, and feet were as wet as if she’d just been pulled from drowning. Tiny rivers flowed off her hair and pooled on the wool sweater, leaving it dark in splotches. Water droplets glistened on her skin, not running off, as though they couldn’t quite bear to leave her.”
― Corinne Beenfield, The Ocean's Daughter :

“She peered at the small girl and though it seemed the child wasn’t listening, her grip on Helen loosened, leaving her feeling like a balloon about to soar away, frantic not to be lost into the open sky.
Helen pinched her eyes shut as pain washed over her, tightening her body.
It was different from other pain she had known. This time, she had a living, breathing someone to fight for, someone waiting on the other side of that agony.
Opening her eyes, Helen set her jaw. A child, by their very existence, doesn’t come into a woman’s life without pain. It takes effort.
Her fingers squeezed the small girl’s and the child’s chin lifted until their eyes met.”
― Corinne Beenfield, The Ocean's Daughter :

“Let them drown me, if that's what they want. Let them. You die once. What's there to be afraid of?”
― Valentin Rasputin, Farewell to Matyora

“The delay in issuing the hurricane Ian evacuation order increased the death toll.”
― Steven Magee

“Hurricane Ian demonstrated the best evacuation plan was out of state.”
― Steven Magee

“Once war was over, everyone wanted to find some normality, to settle and fix their disordered homes. The reality, of course, was that it was impossible. Not with rationing and homes bombed and fathers not yet returned.”
― Lucy Ashe, The Sleeping Beauties

“It sucks to be an orphan. Now what do we do? What is Plan B? For us, the answer was to find a new family that would provide not just the material benefits of food, shelter, and education, but also the intangible benefits that come with the love of a family.”
― Ross Meador