What will New Orleans Residents Do Now that Gustav is On The Way?

Question

After the Katrina nightmare, do you think they'll wake up and leave town? Lets assume that yesterday was the first day the predictions came out - they're predicting it will hit next Tuesday. That gives the residents 6 full days to leave the city. You can walk out of the city in 6 days! Think they'll leave or do you think they'll martyr themselves and then blame Bush again?

Answer 1

The most common myth about New Orleans during Katrina was "No one left despite a week's warning".

Reality was that Katrina was forecast to go elsewhere until about 60 hours before landfall (the storm struck the Gulf coast during the morning of 08/29/05).  A comprehensive state of emergency was declared on August 26th and the evacuation order was given on the 27th.  More than 90% of the New Orleans area's 1,400,000 population was able to leave and the highways were empty by the evening of the 28th.  

About half of those who could not or would not leave went to the Superdome, which was the designated shelter. Most of the people who could not evacuate stayed because they did not have the $300 per night (or more) needed to stay in hotels and eat in restaurants while away from home. Could you afford that if you were subsisting on a fixed income?

Emergency management experts believed it would take 96 hours to evacuate or shelter 95% of a city the size of New Orleans, but NOLA did it in 48 hours.

Call the Mayor's office for the large city closest to where you live and ask them what percentage of the population could be exacuated or sheltered with 48 hours notice.  I will bet it's a lot less than 95%.

An example was the attempted evacuation of Houston for Hurricane Rita (3 weeks after Katrina).  It was a complete flop.

Finally, we (the people of New Orleans) blamed Democrat Governor "Blank Stare" Blanco for the failures to send help to New Orleans - NOT President Bush. It was the national news media covering for the Democrats who blamed Bush - not us.

Answer 2

These people will just stay there and expect the government to do everything for them. The Democrats have convinced them that they are all victims, and they are now used to being dependent on the government. Watch, we will see another repeat of the Katrina debacle, with all the same looting and everything that went with it.

Answer 3

Blame it on Bush.

Answer 4

The sensible ones will leave.  The "victims" will stay and wait for the government to help them.  No doubt they  have their "help us" signs at the ready.

Answer 5

Well, I'd like to say that if they don't get out this time, it's their own fault for sure.  If some people stay despite the warnings, then beg for hand outs, they should be arrested for not complying with State and Federal orders, and get nothing in return.

If victims get more Government hand outs, again, then the people of Iowa should be suing the Government, as well as all the other Gulf Coast states that suffered from Katrina and Gustav.

I know, we all don't know the entire situation in New Orleans when Katrina hit, I just find it hard to believe that Mississippi, Alabama and Florida got the message, but N.O. did not.  Do you hear people from those states complaining on T.V? Looting?  Shooting at their rescuers? Getting free $2000 cards? Misuse of those funds?

So, since I don't know everything that went on there ( I was in Mississippi shortly after and did some re-building) why is it only people from New Orleans have this issue?

Answer 6

The reason that many people stayed during Katrina is because they did not have the means to get out of the city. They didn't have a car or the money to leave or didn't have anywhere else to go. And the city didn't give them a way to leave. They set up the superdome as a shelter, assuming that it was safe. One image that haunts me to this day is one of hundreds of school buses, which could have, and should have, been used to evacuate people, sitting in a flooded parking lot.

This time, there is no excuse, the government is giving them a way to get out, using trains and buses. Shelters have been set up in surrounding areas for the people to go to. 3000 national guardsmen have been sent into the area to help with the evacuation, and more are already on standby. The state has already declared a state of emergency and asked the federal government for help, and it has been granted.

There is no excuse this time, and I do hope that everyone takes the chance to leave while they still can.

In response to emma-nemma, people cannot be dragged from their homes. Any and all evacuation, even mandatory ones, must be done voluntarily. To forcibly remove someone from their home is to infringe on their rights and freedoms. They have the right to stay if they wish, they just need to understand that once the storm comes, they are on their own. Stupid as it may sound, that is the way it has to be.

Answer 7

I hope they get out of New Orleans.  If they don't they are suicidal.

Answer 8

My daughter lives in Kenner, LA just outside of New Orleans.  She said that everyone is well aware of the dangers of Gustav.  They have discussed having a plan with school children, and local authorities are closely monoriting the situation in preparation for an evacuation directive.  They accredit this improved monitoring and preparation to Bobby Jindal, who has already positioned every emergency assistance agency in place ready to help with evacuations, etc.  

The Katrina fiasco wasn't Bush's fault, as we well know.  It was the fault of local and state authorities.  This time at least they have a competent governor who will make a difference.  If necessary, people will be literally dragged from their homes in order to save their lives.  Also, extremely dangerous areas have not been rebuilt because they are unsafe and should not be inhabited.  My family will leave for Texas on Saturday if the current prediction holds.

Answer 9

I find it funny how everyone thinks they know so much on the subject when they clearly don't. We are well prepared this time around. Jindal knows what he is doing. And I while many people around here do not credit Bush in a good way with Katrina, they also realize that Nagin & Blanco were at fault just as much, more actually.