It has not been established that these people didn't leave town for the want of a bus fare. It has been established that a lot of people stayed behind because they wanted to guard their property and belongings or just didn't want to deal with the fuss of evacuation, after the chaos of a false alarm the year before. There WAS public transportation to be had, if residents had elected to use it.

This is simply not true. There were many people who wanted to leave and had no way to do it. And to then be blamed for not leaving, when they are pretty damned angry for being left behind in the first place, is just a bit too much.