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.
Dubya is going to end up being the hero in this.
Anyone whose post-attack survival depends on the government is a fool. Have a disaster kit, and plan for at least a week without help. Arm yourself. Look out for your neighbors, and help those you can. People need to be able to take care of themselves for a LEAST a few days.
BTTT!
For all MEDIA as you prepare the Sunday talk Shows... Here is the research YOU WON'T DO..!
Quick summary:
The state of emergency was declared on Friday. Katrina was forecast to make landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm as of Friday at 7:00 PM CDT.
The voluntary evacuation notice was given Saturday afternoon at 2:30 PM CDT.
The mandatory evacuation order was given Sunday at 9:30 AM CDT.
The storm hit the Louisiana coast on Monday morning at 6:00 AM CDT.
Bump for the timeline
"MSNBC say that Bush didn't order the National Guard into NO before the hurricane"
Why would he? There was a mandatory evacuation. It wouldn't have been wise to deploy National Guard into the strom. The local government is responsible for the evacuation of the people because the local government controls the city and school buses that need to be used.
Unfortunately, the local and state leaders ran to their ivory towers for safety, and even now instead of helping people they run to the MSM for safety from blame.
God bliss our President.
ping.
Thanks for the ping. PKM, thanks for the ping to the Who's To Blame article.
I'm bookmarking both of these for later read.
Freema - I have decided, personally, that I need to really be knowledgeable about the truth -- "the truth will set you free."
The truth is our greatest weapon. Said simply and matter-of-factly, it usually causes most libs to back down, because all they do is parrot the talking points.
There was a great article in Free Republic a couple weeks back written by a script writer in Hollywood. He was Jewish and a Republican. He said most of Hollywood is liberal and hates Republicans and President Bush but they are woefully uninformed. Basically, they know nothing. And they don't care.
CNN has scrubbed the original article. Glad it got posted here.
They did?
Well .. too late, there were a number of freepers that already saved it
Scrubbed it or changed the text, I believe. My internet connection is slow though, and I had an error on a page I was trying to load that had the link. Perhaps saw something else.
bump
Bookmarked. Thanks.
bttt
Me too, Beth, me too. Silly thing is, it's mostly common sense. But that, armed with the truth, is deadly to RATS arguments. Wouldn't it be funny if Bush made a statement, snuck it into one of his addresses, oh dear, I'm ROTFLMBO! THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE! Gotta go, I think I banged my head falling out of the chair. LOL! But before I go, I just need to D DOUBLE DOG TRIPLE DOGE DARE YOU, W!
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you are too funny! have a great labor day weekend. hey, here in sacramento, a local businessman named Gold shut his business down for two weeks and is taking donations of supplies and money and is getting ready to take a caravan of supplies, etc. down to the Gulf in the next couple of days.
Basically if you can keep the windows and roof on your home you will survive. But if you don't get supplies to people within a short time they will begin dieing. That is where FEMA has made their mistakes. Time is too critical to wait to organize a plan, then put together truck convoys, and establish centralized food and water distribution points. That plan takes several days to execute. Hundreds of people are dead in New Orleans because of that plan.
There is absolutely no technical reason why pallets of food, water, tarps, cheap plastic umbrellas, and first aid kits couldn't be dropped by C130 aircraft within a few hours after the storm has passed. Drop one pallet every few blocks throughout the city and people will be able to survive for several days. They may not be comfortable but they will be alive when the ground convoys can reach the area.
After last years hurricanes in Florida FEMA had plenty of opportunities to learn from their mistakes but they did nothing. That is criminal negligence and the leadership should be indicted for felony manslaughter.
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