Posted on 09/04/2005 1:38:07 PM PDT by Diva Betsy Ross
Some Can't Evacuate New Orleans for Ivan By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS - Fleeing to safety was not an option for some people as 140-mph Hurricane Ivan churned toward the Gulf Coast, threatening to submerge the below-sea-level city in what could be the most disastrous storm to hit in nearly 40 years.
Latonya Hill, who waited out the dangerous storm sitting on her stoop Tuesday, said the official pleas for residents to pack up and leave meant little to her.
"Got no place to go and no way to get there," said the 57-year-old grandmother, who lives on a disability check and money she picks up cleaning houses or baby sitting.
"They say evacuate, but they don't say how I'm supposed to do that," Hill said. "If I can't walk it or get there on the bus, I don't go. I don't got a car. My daughter don't either."
Hill is among the estimated 100,000 people in New Orleans who rely on city transportation to get around, making evacuation impossible for them. Yet, no shelters were open in the city as of Tuesday night and there were no plans to open any.
The city was working on setting up a shelter of "last resort," Mayor Ray Nagin said. No shelters had been set up yet because of concerns about flooding and capacity, Nagin added.
At 5 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Ivan was centered about 220 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north-northwest at 12 mph. Forecasters said Ivan could bring a coastal storm surge of 10 to 16 feet, topped by large, battering waves.
More than 1.2 million people in metropolitan New Orleans were warned to get out as Ivan approached, and those who could streamed inland in bumper-to-bumper traffic in an agonizingly slow exodus, spurred by dire warnings that the hurricane could overwhelm New Orleans with up to 20 feet of water.
Forecasters said Ivan, which killed at least 68 people in the Caribbean, could reach 160 mph and strengthen to a dangerous Category 5 by the time it blows ashore as early as Thursday somewhere along the Gulf Coast.
New Orleans, the nation's largest city below sea level, is particularly vulnerable to flooding, and Nagin was among the first to urge residents to get out while they can. The city's Louis Armstrong Airport was ordered closed Tuesday night.
Up to 10 feet below sea level in spots, New Orleans sits between the nearly half-mile-wide Mississippi River and Rhode Island-size Lake Pontchartrain, relying on a system of levees, canals and huge pumps to keep dry.
Experts said Ivan could.., sending water pouring over the levees, flooding to the rooftops and turning streets into a toxic brew of raw sewage, gas and chemicals from nearby refineries.
The mayor said that he would "aggressively recommend" that people evacuate, but that it would difficult to order those who rely on public transportation to do so, since they would have no way to leave.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...id=519&ncid=716
Direct hit by Ivan could spell doom for New Orleans Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle News Services
NEW ORLEANS - More than 1.2 million people in metropolitan New Orleans were warned to get out Tuesday as 140-mph Hurricane Ivan churned toward the Gulf Coast, threatening to submerge the below-sea-level city during what could be the most disastrous storm to hit in nearly 40 years.
Residents streamed inland in bumper-to-bumper traffic in an agonizingly slow exodus amid dire warnings that Ivan could overwhelm New Orleans with up to 20 feet of filthy, chemical-polluted water. About three-quarters of a million more people along the coast in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama also were told to evacuate.
Walter Maestri, an emergency manager in New Orleans, America's most vulnerable metropolitan area, has 10,000 body bags ready in case a major hurricane hits. As Hurricane Ivan's expected path shifted uncomfortably close to the low-lying urban soup bowl, Maestri said Tuesday he might need a lot more.
If a strong Category 4 storm such as Ivan made a direct hit, he warned, 50,000 people could drown, and the city could cease to exist.
"This could be The One," Maestri said. "You're talking about the potential loss of a major metropolitan area."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2796077
Little did anyone know - there were few plans and no new plans in the city of New Orleans. Please see this website for discussion on the lack of use of public transportation to evacuate the poor from NO in 2004:
Why didn't you post the date of the article??? Pls get Admin MOd to correct.
There must be some reason he chose the "shelter of last resort" over city transportation. Bus them to where? On the other hand, what was he thinking -- what would become of the "shelter of last resort" if the flooding, which was pretty much a foregone conclusion in a storm over Cat 4, were to come? Yet this is exactly the eventuality that there was apperently no conticency for.
Well, I don't care, it's STILL President Bush's fault. What did he know, and when did he know it? He doesn't care about people of color and the poor. (Of course, I'm being sarcastic!)
This needs to be brought up again and again. There is no excuse for not having an evacuation plan in place.
Good article, Diva. Thanks for the date correct! Says a lot, doesn't it....
SO, what did the mayor know- and when did he know it?
Excellent find, my friend. Excellent.
Dems/Libs/Socialists just don't learn, do they?? Good LORD do we see evidence of that constantly.......this time, with deadly results.
Done, thanks. Good find.
Thanks sir. BTW- I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore. Have a nice day ;]
The real scandal that is developing here is this: It is apparent that NOLA does not deploy evacuation transportation to it's citizens BEFORE a hurricane hits. They deploy AFTER a hurricane hits. They want to save the buses. This is about money, and it has cost human lives.
Can anyone find a record showing NOLA has deployed evac transportation BEFORE any previous hurricanes have hit?
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/09/09_414.html
September 24, 2004
This article has plenty of ammo to use against those blaming Bush re Katrina ..... Seems as though Ivan was a dry run for the incompetent leaders of Lousiana, so they could botch it big time for Katrina.
I tried to post this as a separate thread but the mods pulled it.
The self serving dems ride again....killing the poor people in N.O. It appears the Klan reigns in all of them, no matter what color they are.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/09/09_414.html
September 24, 2004
This article has plenty of ammo to use against those blaming Bush re Katrina ..... Seems as though Ivan was a dry run for the incompetent leaders of Lousiana, so they could botch it big time for Katrina.
I tried to post this as a separate thread but the mods pulled it.
Carry on good freeps.
I think Mayor Nagin was reluctant to open any shelter or even officially call any place a shelter because he knew it might be construed as an endorsement that the place was safe enough to withstand a hurricane. Obviously, if your city is below sea level, no place is guaranteed safe in a hurricane. That's why "last resort" gets thrown in.
OTOH, I'm mystified then as now why hundreds of school buses you already have are not good enough to evacuate before the storm but you call for buses to be imported after the storm to take away evacuees. That's nonsense.
"Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address. To contact the administrator click here..."
That's the message displayed when I click on your link. What gives?
Nagin after the hurricane:
I need 500 bu..errr..hmmmm...500 MORE buses
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