Where we live we also have mandatory evacuations when a hurricane threatens. Although those who refuse to comply are not arrested, the powers that be make certain they understand that there will be no support during or immediately after the disaster. That means no police, no medical care of any sort, and no food or water other than whatever the residents might have in their own home.
The recent storm that hit Galveston was a case in point, made all the more poignant by the existence of cell phones, so friends and family could hear people they loved being swept away to their deaths.
In the aftermath of that storm our City has decided to send police door to door at a certain point to make residents aware of what they may face, and to get waivers agreeing not to sue if they survive the disaster. They also offer transportation to an evacuation bus in case the resident has no car or cannot drive.
While it might be simpler to just arrest them all, the logistical problems would be a nightmare. In our city of 230,000 if just 1% of the population refused to evacuate, the police would have to arrest, transport and house 2300 people during a disaster wherein normal jail facilities are unavailable.
Thus, our town has chosen a middle road: require evacuation, offer transport to those who cannot evacuate due to transportation-related problems, and get signed waivers from those who still refuse to evacuate but instead choose to shelter in place.
In our area, the problem is that we haven’t had a direct hit by a hurricane since Celia (1971) so there is a whole generation that has absolutely no concept of what such a storm can do. They simply cannot believe that their brick house can be blown away by 200 mph winds.