sorry, bad example.  First off, the winds werent anywhere near that strong until the hurricane was making landfall.  They had days of warning, not hours.  It doesn’t take days to evacuate a city.  They weren’t told to leave (according to many who were still there).  THAT is just out and out negligence -criminal negligence.
You can’t tell me those folk didn’t have radio and television.  They had no excuse to not be aware that the storm was approaching, and that it was a big one.  You just can’t shovel the whole blame on the president.  The first and second line of defense did absolutely nothing (well, Nagin made sure his family was evacuated, but beyond that? ) Until they are held responsible, it is highly hypocritical to blame the feds.
And Nagin was never held responsible.  Old Chocolate City Nagin was actually re-elected.  So you will have to forgive the rest of us if we don’t fall all over ourselves with sympathy.  At some point, you have to shoulder some of the responsibility for yourself.

You really can’t say that they had days of warning. The forecasters predict where a hurricane is most likely to go but they are often wrong. It was known that a large hurricane was in the Gulf of Mexico and would likely make landfall somewhere on the US coast. Where it would come ashore became clearer as it got closer.

Evacuating 350,000 people from an area that is surrounded by water like New Orleans is, with few roads out, would take longer than a couple of days. Just think of the traffic involved in daily commuting to and from work. Now imagine everybody in town trying to go to the same place at the same time. The logistics involved are monumental. If everybody had access to a vehicle and enough money to fill the gas tank, how do they get out of town? Where do they get more gas when they’re caught in traffic and run out? If traffic had been stalled on the causeways leading out of New Orleans when Katrina hit, most would have died. After Katrina was finished it took several days to evacuate those at the Superdome.

Many didn’t have the money to evacuate! Where do they go? Where do they get food? If they use the money they have to leave and Katrina veers off, how do they pay their rent? If the Mayor or the Governor orders people to leave, who covers the cost if it turns out to be a false alarm? Are they liable if people get stuck in traffic and killed by the hurricane?

think - 22 June 2008 06:20 PM

You really can’t say that they had days of warning. The forecasters predict where a hurricane is most likely to go but they are often wrong. It was known that a large hurricane was in the Gulf of Mexico and would likely make landfall somewhere on the US coast. Where it would come ashore became clearer as it got closer.

Evacuating 350,000 people from an area that is surrounded by water like New Orleans is, with few roads out, would take longer than a couple of days. Just think of the traffic involved in daily commuting to and from work. Now imagine everybody in town trying to go to the same place at the same time. The logistics involved are monumental. If everybody had access to a vehicle and enough money to fill the gas tank, how do they get out of town? Where do they get more gas when they’re caught in traffic and run out? If traffic had been stalled on the causeways leading out of New Orleans when Katrina hit, most would have died. After Katrina was finished it took several days to evacuate those at the Superdome.

Many didn’t have the money to evacuate! Where do they go? Where do they get food? If they use the money they have to leave and Katrina veers off, how do they pay their rent? If the Mayor or the Governor orders people to leave, who covers the cost if it turns out to be a false alarm? Are they liable if people get stuck in traffic and killed by the hurricane?

Lets see, there is I-10 east and west, I-59 going north, I-55 going north, I-49 going north, SR 61 is four lanes all the way to I-20, SR 21 north is four lanes, hell they got better road choices then we do in the Tampa Bay area and I have driven every one of them pulling a 53 foot trailer a dozen times over. As to those that didn’t have the money, all I can is remember pictures of hundreds of school buses with empty tanks sitting in locked parking lots in water up to their windows
As for the time to evacuate the super dome, by that time the roads were gone, the bridges were gone the infrastructure was gone or under water, its an apples to oranges comparison. The Mayor and the Governor are mostly to blame for the deaths by not calling for an evacuation soon enough, and then in the aftermath not calling the feds in soon enough.

They DID have days of warning.  You can’t say they didn’t when they actually did.  It followed the predicted path, and the wide swath predicted put the city pretty much in the middle -so the odds were extremely good that it was going to hit at or very near the city.
Common sense would dictate that if you live in an area that is below sea level, you take precautions if danger approaches.  If you leave, and the hurricaned doesn’t hit -or does little to no damage, then you played it safe, and exercised responsible behavior.
Think, you think they acted responsible by NOT paying heed to the warnings?  But then you wish to blame the federal government for their plight?  First line of defense is your own sense of responsibility and (though evidently lacking in most of the population of New Orleans) common sense.  Next comes the mayor, then the governor, THEN the feds.
I have a hard time believing that ALL of those who failed to evacuate did so because they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to pay the rent (what a rediculous excuse.  So stay, drown, then what? ) -were their legs broken?  If they wanted to get to somewhere bad enough, they would find a way.  Why didn’t the mayor declare a state of emergency, and use the city buses or even school buses (they DID have working transportation, after all -they couldn’t ALL have been broken down) -there were options if they had chosent to exercise them.