No kidding. That many people crammed together under stress? No thanks.
I'm off to go visit Mt. St. Helens! Y'all stay safe... back later.
Remember Ivan?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23454-2004Sep15.html
New Orleans was expecting some flooding from the outer edges of the storm, but nothing approaching the huge pounding that could happen if the city's below-sea-level streets took a direct hit from a major hurricane. Flooding fears prompted a mass exodus from the city on Tuesday, rivaling the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Georges in 1998 when an estimated 325,000 fled.
For those who stayed, Mayor Ray Nagin could offer little more than advice because relief agencies refuse to set up shelters in his city, fearing for the lives of their volunteers. Nagin called for a "vertical evacuation," urging stranded residents to seek the upper floors of buildings. He suggested they carry tools to cut their way out if they become trapped by rising waters.
Nagin, who was criticized Tuesday for not moving faster to allow cars leaving the city to travel on both inbound and outbound highway lanes, found himself in another controversy on Wednesday. After residents complained that he was allowing only hospital patients dependent on electricity to seek refuge in the Louisiana Superdome, he reversed himself and allowed the general public in.
September 2004
Frail, elderly and sick residents unable to get out were moved to the 72,000-seat Louisiana Superdome, where 200 cots in upper-deck concourses supplanted the dome's usual tenant, the New Orleans Saints.
LuLinda Williams wept after dropping off her bedridden grandmother, who is on oxygen, at the Superdome. Only one family member was allowed to stay with each patient, so Williams left her daughter.
"I thought they'd let the family stay with them," Williams said. "Where are the rest of us supposed to go now? How are we supposed to know she's OK?"
Nagin later said the dome would also be opened as a one-night last resort for able-bodied storm refugees. The last time that happened during Hurricane Georges in 1998, the 14,000 refugees nearly did more damage than the storm itself.
Countless televisions, seat cushions and bar stools were stolen, and workers spent months cleaning graffiti off the walls.