nola.com's new article on the evacuation effort

[pitohui]

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/11356667648850.xml

i feel this is a fair & balanced article, perhaps the best i've read that describes what actually happened, it jibes w. what i experienced in this & other evacuations

the removal of 1.2 million people from southeast Louisiana, 80 percent of the population, was one of the most successful evacuations in U.S. history, far better than Houston's snarled effort ahead of Hurricane Rita three weeks later. Officials credit a contraflow plan retooled by the Blanco administration after a disastrous trial run for Hurricane Ivan a year earlier.

The proportion of people fleeing Katrina far surpassed the 34 percent who said in a University of New Orleans survey, released in July, that they would "definitely" leave in advance of a Category 3 hurricane if urged by public officials to do so. As it made landfall, Katrina was exactly that, a Category 3 storm, but hours earlier meteorologists had warned of a potential Category 5 storm, a sharp stimulus to an intensified evacuation.

it is so sad & difficult to read in places but if you have wondered why i get so mad when outsiders shit on our local officials and esp. on governor blanco, this is why, we never had an evacuation go so well until she got there & worked w. barbour & parish officials to get an orderly contraflow

god help us all if this disaster had occurred during the reign of do-nothing GOP governor mike foster! we'd still all be backed up on a bridge somewhere

there was never going to be a catastrophe of this scale that took no lives but i feel we did amazing things for two states w. so little in the way of financial resources

mods, this was on nola.com's front page, but i'm not sure it is breaking news, so i put it here, feel free to move if you prefer

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I find it quite interesting that NO ONE

has ever criticized Jeb for not evacuating Florida before a hurricane.

[bpilgrim]

2. Victims turned down chance to evacuate (subhead)

sounds like blamming the victums, right off the bat... now back to the article

peace

[BOSSHOG]

4. I didn't read it that way

Many chose to stay at their home or with their pets. I found no blame in the piece just another valid reason why so many stayed in the city. Living in this part of the world, one becomes almost callous to hurricane evacuation news. We didn't evacuate the previous three times and nothing happened to us so why go now! Or, as often heard in Missisippi, our home survived Camille (in 69) so what's the big deal about Katrina? Ya just never know when to go and when to stay. The wednesday before Katrina struck, there was no doubt in my mind, based on weather reports, that it was headed to Pensacola.

[bpilgrim]

5. it comes off that way to me knowing that MANY VICTIMS also had no choice

and were forced at gun point to stay, during the worst of it, the aftermath and then left to die on the streets like dogs :cry:

i understand that some though, even with the means, choose to ride it out, as they've always had, but they certainly weren't everyone and that doesn't mean they should be blamed now.

maybe i am just to pissed about the subject and jaded by the media in general to be objective here :shrug:

peace

[BOSSHOG]

3. THE CONTRAFLOW

worked out between Governors Blanco and Barbour of Mississippi wase a huge success. All traffic heading north on I-59 was an awesome sight to behold. Yes, it worked great unlike the traffic fiasco of Texas and Rita.

Interesting point about ole mike foster. He would have been on vacation somewhere but limbaugh etal would have been singing his praises. I think Governor Blanco is going to come out of this just fine. Maybe the gop can resurrect Suzaaaaane Hate Terrier to run against her in 08!