Sunday Rest: evacuate. Word Not To Use Reflexively Today Without Extreme Care.

While bush fires have been burning in Australia and America, in Britain it's been raining and raining. Some unfortunate people's houses have been flooded four times during December, and yet more rain is forecast. 

On Boxing Day, December 26th, the River Irwell burst its banks in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, causing all sorts of damage.

A report from The Telegraph online:

Saeed Atcha, a radio presenter, said: 'All of a sudden we heard a bang, we looked over to where the sound came from and couldn't see anything. Then a second later there was another explosion and then a big orange beam lit up the sky, like a flash. It was very very scary. Everyone was looking round in a state of shock.
A police officer shouted 'Get back into your house, there has been a gas explosion'.
'Two or three minutes later the police officer jumped into his [car and] drove away. After he gave the warning he evacuated himself '.

And, well, really, who can blame him?

Word Not To Use Reflexively Today Without Extreme Care: evacuate. This is rather a horrid word, partly because it's much too much like vacuous. It comes from the Latin ēvacuāre, from vacuus, empty.