I agree 100%. They all knew where the emergency shelters were. They had more than 24 hours to decide what to do. Worst case, all they needed to do was walk across town.
They had AMPLE time to get out, or at least get to a shelter.
And who's to say if there were buses carrying people out before the storm that these people would actually have taken them. I think regardless of the situation, people would have stayed, and we'd be in the same predicament.