[DJ MacWoW]

I've never been to NO but I imagine that by the time their officials said it was time to leave it was too late to try. The incompetence is breathtaking.

[TNdandelion]

Has anyone said that they wished Governor Jeb Bush or Rudy Giuliani were in charge of this situation right now? If not....I am.

[meyer]

I've never been to NO but I imagine that by the time their officials said it was time to leave it was too late to try. The incompetence is breathtaking.

Having participated in and read the first few threads as the storm approached over the weekend, it was quite clear by Saturday afternoon that this was going to be big, and that it's projected paths were beginning to converge on the New Orleans area. The airlines knew it and cancelled flights. The railroads knew and redirected rail traffic from the area. The President knew and pre-emptively freed up disaster funds for Lousiana and Mississippi (IIRC). The Governor probably knew it as well, but hoped that it would turn away or weaken as many had done before. The mayor knew, but wanted the city to extract a few more dollars from their guests. Or maybe he really was scared of the trial lawyers.

It wasn't until mid-morning on Sunday that the Mayor decided to declare that all should evacuate the city or head for the dome. Strong rumor (and maybe it can be backed up) is that the President told either the Mayor of the Governor that the evacuation had to be ordered.

[Rusty Roberts]

On the news yesterday (CNN or MSNBC) they stated that one in six of every citizen of NO had no means of transportation.

Pair that with the 28% unemployment, you've got the main reason for those who stayed behind: no means or opportunity.

Be that as it may, the toll is still going to be more than we can understand. They are talking about bodies floating in the streets, families dead in houses, and bodies tagged on the streets because there is no place to take them.

Looking at the reporters today, it isn't hard to fathom this is going to be an extremely high number initially, and will continue to grow due to contamination.