[dawn53]

So if there's a mandatory evac, why aren't the authorities forcing the establishments to shut down. I've looked at a couple of current webcams and there are people still wandering around Bourbon Street and other areas.

Here's a live webcam link:

http://www.nola.com/bourbocam/classic/index.ssf

[dawn53]

oops, wrong link...here's the live shots

http://www.tropicalisle.com/webcam.html

[diverteach]

There really is NO such thing as a manadatiry evacuation. Basically when authorities tell you that there is a "Mandatory evacuation", they are simply saying, leave or else and we told you so. So, if you stay and you need help of any kind, don't bother calling they won't be there to help. They cannot force you to leave, all they can and usually do enforce are curfews during nightime hours to prevent looting.

Anybody sticking around to ride this one out though is really going to wish that they hadn't.