Posted on 09/02/2005 2:22:21 PM PDT by joinedafterattack
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that it was President Bush that had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.
New Orleans orders evacuation Hurricane Katrina's winds nearly 175 mph
Sunday, August 28, 2005; Posted: 11:47 a.m. EDT (15:47 GMT)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency on Sunday and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city as Hurricane Katrina churned toward the city with maximum sustained winds of nearly 175 mph.
All of Orleans Parish falls under the order except for necessary personnel in government, emergency and some other public service categories.
People who are unable to evacuate were told to immediately report to a designated shelter.
"I wish I had better news for you, but we are facing a storm that most of us have feared," Nagin said. "I do not want to create panic, but I do want the citizens to understand that this is very serious and it's of the highest nature."
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that President Bush had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.
About 485,000 people live in the city, and many began evacuating before sunrise.
Blanco said that westbound traffic was heavy and that the state police was urging people to travel to the north or east.
Shelters have been set up at 10 sites, including the Superdome, for people who cannot leave the city for medical or other reasons, but Nagin said they should be used only as a "last resort." (See video from New Orleans, where not all are ready to leave)
He said people who must stay in the shelter should bring enough food, water and supplies to last several days.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast could expect storm surges of up to 25 feet as the Category 5 storm makes landfall early Monday.
Officials fear New Orleans is vulnerable because it sits an average of 6 feet below sea level. (Watch video of how New Orleans reacted to warning)
Nagin said the storm surge would likely topple the levy system that protects the city.
"It has the potential for a large loss of life," said Max Mayfield, director of the NHC. (Watch CNN meteorologist explain storm outlook)
Katrina is blamed for at least seven deaths in Florida, where it made landfall Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane. As much as 18 inches of rain fell in some areas, flooding streets and homes. (See video of the damage floodwaters left in one family's new house)
At 10 a.m. ET, Katrina was centered about 225 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving to the west-northwest at about 12 mph.
NHC forecaster Ed Rappaport said Katrina's strength could fluctuate before it reaches shore but noted the difference between a high Category 4 and a low Category 5 was practically inconsequential.
"There will be extensive to potentially catastrophic damage to many structures ... and inland," he said. "We'll have a lot of trees that are going to come down, perhaps millions of trees. But the first threat is going to be the storm surge. You must get away from the coast now."
By 8:30 a.m. ET, the first bands of rain were falling over southeastern Louisiana.
CNN meteorologist Brad Huffines said the Katrina would come ashore "sometime between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m." Monday.
"The news doesn't get good, unfortunately," he said. "These rain showers will slow down the evacuation process, and that means you need to hit the road quickly, very quickly."
Worst-case scenario In worst-case scenarios, most of New Orleans would end up under 15 feet of water, without electricity, clean water and sewage for months. Even pumping the water out could take as long as four months to get started because the massive pumps that would do the job would be underwater.
"People in New Orleans tend to think that the storm we've always planned on would never come," Louisiana National Guard Lt. Col. Pete Schneider said. "But people need to heed that warning."
Rappaport cautioned that New Orleans was not the only area threatened -- the storm's hurricane winds spread out as far as 100 miles. As far east as Mobile, Alabama, forecasters warned of storm surges reaching 8 to 10 feet.
Hurricane warnings were posted from Morgan City, Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama-Florida state line, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions, including winds of at least 74 mph, are expected in the warning area within the next 24 hours.
A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were issued from the Alabama-Florida state line eastward to Destin, Florida, and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. Another tropical storm warning was issued Sunday from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, west to Cameron, Louisiana, and from Destin, Florida, eastward to Indian Pass, Florida.
A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions, including winds of at least 39 mph, are expected within 24 hours. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible, usually within 36 hours.
Governors of both Louisiana and Mississippi declared emergencies Friday in anticipation of the strengthening storm.
Robert Latham, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said the state was recommending evacuations along the coast "and even several counties inland." Mandatory evacuations could follow later, he said.
Category 5 is the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Only three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records were kept. Those were the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, 1969's Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the Miami area in 1992. Andrew remains the costliest U.S. hurricane on record, with $26.5 billion in losses.
Camille came ashore in Mississippi and killed 256 people.
Oil production cut U.S. energy companies said U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude oil output was cut by more than one-third on Saturday due to the threatening storm, Reuters reported.
The Gulf of Mexico is home to roughly a quarter of U.S. domestic oil and gas output, with a capacity to produce about 1.5 million barrels per day of crude and 12.3 billion cubic feet per day of gas. (Full story)
Many oil platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuated. ((Watch the video of drilling crews securing rigs and seeking safety.)
CNN's David Mattingly, Susan Candiotti, Jacqui Jeras and Rob Marciano contributed to this report.
bump
bttt
Thanks for the responses. I have to admit I am rather furious at the moment that the media is portraying the mayor as some sort of victim of the federal government. While I think the federal goverment was slower than they should have been given the magnitude of the impending event, the source of trouble ultimately traces itself through the governor, the local goverment, and eventually to Nagin and the New Orleans Emergency Operations Office. While other parishes seem to have been miserably underprepared, it is the situation in New Orleans that is currently the most dire, all due to the sheer volume of people that were left in the city. By not evacuating those necessary people out of the city prior to the storm (rather than after it), all other operations that typically take place on the federal level in terms of hurricane relief have been severely compromised. Rescue efforts and food dispersals that should be allocated to more isolated areas in surrounding parishes must now be spent on more than 100,000 people (in dangerous conditions) that should have been 50 miles west in Baton Rouge on Sunday in shelters. There they would have received the necessary treatment days ago and had power and telephone service.
I have faith that in the coming days and weeks that responsible news organizations will expose Nagin and his sham emergency operations manager Terry Ebbert for their inexcusable neglect. In an ideal world they would be brought before a court on charges of neglect but I'm not holding my breath.
Great find.
Just got back from vacation out west. But my wife and I stayed up-to-date on all that is happening. It is obvious to me that neither the mayor nor the governor of Louisiana has any degree of competence. No coincidence that both are Dems. The recent insane hysterical statements from the mayor confirm my view of his total inadequacy. From what I've heard and read there was NO!!! worst case scenario plan at all...inconceivable as it sounds. But of course it must be Bush's fault for not being there personally to manage things and hold their hands. (/sarcasm)
I think there was a lot of things straightened out today between the feds and the locals.
Found this FWIW. The article was Sunday 25
Sorry if this already posted.
I'm sure it was posted someplace around here. Keep it handy to counter the LeftStreamMedia/DemonRAT talking points though.
True....but anything short of sending the military in and forcing the citizens out at gunpoint would have been useless. Some were NOT going to leave...no matter what. :(
bump
Thanks for the heads up, Grampa Dave!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
Just occured to me what kind of precedent would be set if the feds could move in pre-emptively before a potential disaster struck. Would even liberals want big brother to have such power?
I'll keep looking for the time of the call. I enjoy playing super-sleuth and the web is my magnifying glass. :)
Good one.
Nothing a Republican President ever does will be alright.
Clinton actually had Americans killed at Waco, many of them black and children, which the press never pictured, and I don't remember the press expressing any outrage whatsoever. None.
The president actually does pre-planning for a hurricane, declares a state of emergency on Sunday, calls the Mayor and Governor to encourage a full evacuation, puts the full forces of the federal goverment behind the relief efforts, and he's the one the press goes after.
And it's racial, according to them.
This president who has more minorities in his administration than any other administration in our history is called a racist.
I am beyond sick at the racial rioting that the press is trying to stir up in this country. Between this new specious race angle and gas prices and lines and shortages, the press is just reveling in it and remembering the 70's. They are malignant narcissists who should be dam* for the rest of their natural lives.
The DUmmies don't care. It's just yet another inconvenient fact that conflicts with their agenda.
Amen
TOday I had a MD I work with we asked me why didn't Bush do something sooner will with that I went off needless to say and I am sick of all the racist tones the media is spitting out. my question is where is John Conyers or Maxine Waters COnyers is always trying to get reparations for slaves yet haven't heard or seen him to help his people or where is the people who make the blue water spots for the damn illegals why aren't they there for the united states citizens and also, this is what happens when you teach people to depend on the government and not fend for themselves they are totally unprepared.
Presumably the mandatory evacuation would have kicked in, you know, the EVACUATION PLAN. Which may have involved, say, 1500 soon to be submerged school busses for people who don't have transportation.
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