Why did the staff on Isla Nublar leave in the first movie?

This has been something that’s been bothering me for quite a while now, and when watching the first movie it’s something I can’t stop thinking about; why did the staff for Jurassic Park leave?

In Jurassic Park, from the very beginning up until Nedry shuts down the security system, we see that the island is very well staffed (somewhat similar to Jurassic World) with many animal security guards, veterinarians, tour guides, builders geneticists and technicians in the control room. However in the course of the movie, practically the entire staff leaves for the mainland on the boat, at arguably both the most important time for the park so far and most dangerous time for the park; a thorough onsite safety inspection and the first test of Jurassic Park operating with visitors, and in the path of a large tropical storm.

The only members of staff that are now left on Isla Nublar are Robert Muldoon, Ray Arnold and Dennis Nedry; all three of them are now absolutely irreplaceable. Out of the staff, only Muldoon can actually go outside and (barely) do something with the animals. But there are no geneticists/nursery staff to look after the eggs and baby dinosaurs, no veterinarians to look after sick and injured animals (possibly a consequence from the tropical storm), no-one guarding the Velociraptors (the most dangerous animals on the island), no builders to fix damaged structures (also a possible consequence from the tropical storm), or even a cook to make dinner for both the guests and the remaining staff!

And no matter what, there appears to be no way to get around this problem, whether we view the movie as part of an ever-expanding franchise, a standalone film, or an adaptation of the novel.

"in the path of a large tropical storm."

That's why they all evacuated.

Dead2009 wrote:

"in the path of a large tropical storm."

That's why they all evacuated.

???

Dead wrong.

100% wrong.

The full staff was always going to leave for the mainland this weekend, for off time. The first evidence can be found from the Arnold intercom background announcement in the egg hatching scene: "A reminder: The boat will be leaving to the mainland at 1900. All personel be at the dock no later than 1845. No expectations". Then as the group closes on the eggs, Wu says: "Perfect timing. I'd hoped they'd hatch before I had to go to the boat".

So it is not tied to a storm whatsoever, hell the 'storm' is not even brought up until much later (and even then they aren't sure it's going to hit the island until well into the evening). Furthermore, Nedry during his chat with Hammond implies that handling the park with"minimal staffing" is no problem, and happens on regular intervals. Harding at the scene of the Triceratops then says he'll be at the dock with the "others". Finally later on Hammond blames relying on too much automation as being the core issue for the failure of the events.

As to why Hammond wouldn't re-orchestrate full staff for the weekend when he knew full well the inspection had to be handled with minimal staffing beforehand, I can only assume that the investors pressured to have the PR tour immediately without moments notice. So he had to get the inspectors to the island on the first possible weekend (within a day or two?), with no time to change the schedules of the full staff. Also, the previously mentioned arrogant over reliance on automation, as well as not caring of the employees that much (Nedry). I think that's also part the reason why he was so frustrated by not being able to finish the basic park tour on the first evening.

Btw I already kind of touched these here
https://jurassicmainframe.forumotion.com/t912-original-park-tour

^What Mistral said.

They left because it was the weekend. Arnold was on the intercom announcing for staff to start packing and heading to the boat before they realized the tropical storm was heading their way. The storm was simply a coincidence.

CT-1138 wrote:

^What Mistral said.

They left because it was the weekend. Arnold was on the intercom announcing for staff to start packing and heading to the boat before they realized the tropical storm was heading their way. The storm was simply a coincidence.

Dang. Well that seems to make it worse that they'd leave. 

I always thought it was stupid for the storm evacuation thing because we see everyone more inland remains quite alright. While they would be going on a boat

I'm shocked to hear anyone ever even thought it was an 'evacuation' lol

Mistral wrote:

I'm shocked to hear anyone ever even thought it was an 'evacuation' lol

It's probably just one of those strange yet common misconceptions, you see the storm. The people "evacuating" as they tell Nedry to hurry up. Even though it's not an Evac it places the idea in people's heads. But the dialogue is in plain sight just like you said.

Weird. It's just one those things I never thought about.

Troyal1 wrote:

Mistral wrote:

I'm shocked to hear anyone ever even thought it was an 'evacuation' lol

It's probably just one of those strange yet common misconceptions, you see the storm. The people "evacuating" as they tell Nedry to hurry up. Even though it's not an Evac it places the idea in people's heads. But the dialogue is in plain sight just like you said.

Weird. It's just one those things I never thought about.

When you think about it, it's kind of funny that beyond the tour being cut half and the little details such as people in the cars thinking it's power outage because of the storm, the only thing the weather actually really does is cause Nedry to screw up his journey to the docks. And possibly his boat captain not willing to wait for his 18 minutes I guess.

Yet, yet it's brilliantly played/hyped up to be huge part of the movie as well as foreshadowed advance. And of course you have the great little visual details that have role on the screen, particularly before the T-Rex attack. It's presence is both practical, and aesthetic. Most of the details go unnoticed, and as I said only few of the aspects of the storm actually affect the proceedings of the evening, but everything still has real meaning in the film. That's how you do it! Everything affects everything. Just as Malcolm says

The storms in the sequels had no real meaning, they might as well not been there. In TLW the only thing I can think it caused was the ground to become muddy next to the cliff, but that didn't necessarily need storms, or there to be mud in the first place. In JP3 it might as well been day at the river attack, other than obviously helping hiding the soundstage they were on. I remember thinking at the theaters already... cliche thunderstorm again, really?

For once I can't fault JW on the storm front, as it had none.