Here's what Nagin was talking about.
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/news/p20050828p2g00m0in009000c.html
Mainichi Daily News
August 28, 2005 - Sunday
Officials worry residents not taking Hurricane Katrina seriously enough
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Residents in south Louisiana jammed highways in a rush to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, but officials worried that not enough people were taking the monster Category 4 storm seriously enough.
"People need to take this very seriously and get to a safe area while they can," State Police Sgt. Frank Coates said.
By Saturday evening, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin visited television stations and urged people to leave (i.e., not mandatory) -- just hours before Katrina strengthened early Sunday to Category 4 with winds of 233 kph.
Katrina was expected to hit the Gulf Coast early Monday and a hurricane warning was in effect from Morgan City to the Alabama-Florida border.
"I've been here 33 years, and we've always been concerned about New Orleans," U.S. National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield said. "I had to let the mayor know that this storm has the potential not only to cause large property damage, but large loss of life if people don't make the right decision." (IOW, "I was trying to tell the mayor he needs to stop talking to attorneys and initiate our Mandatory Evacuation Plan, assuming we have one.")
Katrina could be a disaster for New Orleans because the bowl-like city sits below sea-level and is dependent on levees and pumps to keep the water out, Mayfield said.
"You could very well be looking at a storm surge of 4.5 to 6 meters, possible nearly 8 meters," he said. "If that water breaches the levees it will take forever to drain it back out."
U.S. President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana (Saturday), and his spokesman urged residents along the coast to heed authorities' advice to evacuate. Nagin was (still) exploring the idea of ordering a mandatory evacuation. (...while he spoke with his legal staff.)
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Nagin said he spoke to a forecaster at the hurricane center (Max Mayfield?) who told him that "this is the storm New Orleans has feared these many years."
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," he warned. "Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all things you normally do for a hurricane, but treat this one differently because it is pointed towards New Orleans."
Making matters worse, at least 100,000 people in the city lack the transportation to get out of town. Nagin said the Superdome might be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pickup points around New Orleans. ("Might be?" Within 36 hours of landfall and he's still saying "might be?")
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By 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) Sunday, Katrina's eye was about 440 kilometers south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving west-northwest at about 16 kph and was expected to turn more to the northwest during the day, the hurricane center said.
"We know that we're going to take the brunt of it," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. "It does not bode well for southeastern Louisiana." (..."but I'm still waiting on the President to tell me what to do because I'm having a nervous breakdown and don't know what the hell to do.")