I listened to the news reports all day and am fairly certain that I heard them say that President Bush actually pleaded with them, or forcefully encouraged them (my words, not theirs) to order an evacuation. Did anyone else hear this?
That's the size of it. The governor had words similar to those at this press conference this morning referring to a phone call from W. He all but ordered them to pull the trigger or FEMA dollars would not be available. If you get the opportunity, watch the 'mandatory evacuation' press conference. It was spine tingling with the high levels of incompetence present.
I heard that President Bush strongly suggested it. I also heard the head of the hurricane center personally called the mayor. There was something to that effect, because the story put out by the mayor's office originally wa that he couldn't order a mandatory evacuation because of some legal reason.