I got that impression too. Amazing.
They've been in "cover their ass" mode for at least 24 hours. The legalism, dragging their feet, and noticeably mentioning that the President ordered the mandatory evac was so that if the cane misses enough that there isn't the catastrophic damage, they can pass the buck and blame to him for the massive looting that will occur. Trying to avoid a political backlash from a constituency that if spared will bitch instead of consider themselves lucky.