New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is seen in New Orleans, March 20, 2006. A judge on Monday rejected pleas to delay the city's April 22 municipal election, despite objections that Hurricane Katrina evacuees may not get to vote. (Lee Celano/Reuters)
Posted on 03/28/2006 8:10:05 PM PST by NormsRevenge
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Everyone in New Orleans must evacuate the low-lying city the next time a hurricane threatens and no shelters will be offered for those who stay, officials said on Tuesday.
Hoping to avoid a repeat of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when thousands struggled to survive after ignoring evacuation orders, they said planes, trains and buses would be used to move people out and the Superdome football stadium would not be open for refuge.
"Today the population stands around 200,000 to 225,000 people in New Orleans," said Orleans Parish Homeland Security Advisor Terry Ebbert. "Our goal is to ensure that we create an environment where it makes more sense to leave than to stay,"
"We want all 225,000 people to get out of the city," he said. Before Katrina, New Orleans had nearly half a million residents, but many who fled the storm have not returned.
Ebbert spoke at a news conference after state and local officials met with Federal Emergency Management Agency acting director David Paulison to discuss plans for the next hurricane season, which starts June 1.
Officials plan to have only small shelters available for police and rescue workers and will not open the Superdome, the site of mass misery when stranded Katrina victims crowded into the dank and damaged stadium and waited days for rescue.
Ebbert said evacuations could come early and often this year because the levee system protecting New Orleans was weakened by Katrina and there are thousands of people now living in FEMA-provided travel trailers.
Residents will be ordered out not just for hurricanes, but for tropical storms, too, he said.
Paulison estimated that by June 1, 100,000 families along the U.S. Gulf Coast will be in trailers, which are vulnerable in high winds.
He said FEMA, which has been heavily criticized for its response to Katrina, would do whatever state and local officials cannot do to prepare for hurricanes.
"The locals and state are putting together the process of identifying what they can and cannot do. We're looking at where we can fit in to help," he said.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is seen in New Orleans, March 20, 2006. A judge on Monday rejected pleas to delay the city's April 22 municipal election, despite objections that Hurricane Katrina evacuees may not get to vote. (Lee Celano/Reuters)
well duhh..(not you norm..the officials)
But Blanco will remain an idiot for the next storm.
The list of what they can do will be very short.
Well, double "duh" and again.Not you Norm.
Hey who says Mayor Nagin does not learn from his previous mistakes. I heard they are going to try to sell one of the flooded school buses on Ebay.LOL!
And our money is being used to rebuild this city. Why?
The truth slowly emerges and cannot be denied: the suffering of New Orleans residents after Katrina was caused by a failed evacuation by local and state officials.
Ray will be passing out the chocolate milk.
At the school bus parking lot.
Bless Paulson for his tough talk--but if I were a potential property owner, it doesn't give me much faith in how well I could protect it from other people--much less nature/Posiedon.
Ray will be making a beeline for his home in Dallas.
Don't hold your breath! Wasn't it the "looters" that were confiscating the weapons of law abiding citizens?
Cops don't shoot cops.
Nagin should be defending against negligent homicide charges in court rather than burdening the court and taxpayers so as to influence an election to his own benefit.
We know the buses don't have bathrooms, Ray. The solution to that problem is simple: stop at a restaurant on your way out of New Orleans, just like we did on school field trips when I was a kid in San Diego.
Hey Ray! I've got a killer deal for you. Apparently some dumbass is selling school buses that don't run on e-bay. I can hook you up. Oh, that's you???!!!! Never mind.
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