I'll bet the guy would never have made the call to evac without the president calling.
Mr. Mayor, please EVACUATE you have the legal authority!
Max Mayfield of the NWS put the fear of God into the mayor (the mayor just said so), and maybe Bush. If there is one hero in this story, among the goats, it is Mayfield. Pity neither Bush nor the mayor nor the governor reads FR, or some other source of weather news. They were all about 36-48 hours behind the curve. I suspect some political careers will end over this one.