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.
LOL. Ancient Chinese proverb says, "It is better to be master of the obvious than master of a home filled with eels."
"A gaffe occurs not when a politician lies, but when he tells the truth."--Michael Kinsley
Yeah..but she will be at both of LSU's final four showings next week..even take credit for it..her tireless work..yawn
but but but ray told them to stay in there homes. he said if they absolutely had to leave the superdome would be opened as a last resort. He said all of this on 8/27/06 at 10:45AM CST.
there homes = their homes
that picture of ray adversely affected my brain function.
Now that we have learned that "chocolate" mixed with salt water makes some really crappy cocoa, this might be a good idea.
Ignoring? That's right, blame the victims. Most of the people who ended up at the Superdome and Convention Center had no way to get out of the city when the long overdue evacuation order was finally given. Many were residents of poor neighborhoods where few people had working vehicles, not to mention that gasoline supplies were running out by the time. And of course the 1000+ school buses that could have taken everyone to safety were kept parked in their lots (except for the one that young Jabbar Gibson "liberated" shortly after the storm).
I hope the people have learned their lesson, that relying on government to save you is a very bad plan. However, for officials of the same government which has been encouraging and bribing them to be government-dependent for decades, to then turn around and blame them for government's miserable failure in a major emergency, is an obscene level of hypocrisy.
The 1200 school buses are ready and waiting to evacuate NO citizens.....still waiting. Maybe they will get a chance next time....if the election goes right!!
New Orleans is a swamp best given to the gators.
The IQ level would soar.
then they wouldnt have any of these problems.
We have 38 thousand refugee children enrolled in Texas schools. Texas has spent 350 million dollars on the NO refugees and Congress does not want to re-emburse.
They said the kids are all 2 or 3 years behind and thousands could be held back because they can't pass the Texas Assessment Knowledge Skills tests! TAKS, can't go on till you pass it.
Yes, the fact that LA children of all colors were so far behind Texas's rather dismal students certainly didn't get much msm coverage, did it? And it wasn't for lack of trying...Texas schools even ran extra tutoring sessions after school to try to get these children half-way up to speed, to no avail.
If Texas's schools have dismal ratings it is because of all the illegals enrolled and all the hispanic dropouts. My children in my city all received decent schooling.
Yup.
Too bad the MSM continues to blame the President of the United States for the incompetence of city and state leadership.
Louisiana is a fool's paradise only because of the leadership and the racist idiots who voted for it.
Otherwise, I would have no problem with living here.
It will be interesting to learn the unintended consequences of this decision. There will always be someone who misses the last bus out, or who has special needs and no communication. Their deaths will be blamed on someone. Pres. Bush won't be president past Jan. 2009, so we'll need a new scapegoat. Last August, NOLA tried to dissuade people from using the Superdome by calling it shelter of last resort and not having sufficient supplies. Look what happened.
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