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.
The flood arrived and the rest is history.
The true storm damage hit Mississippi and Alabama.
bttt
The flood arrived and the rest is history.
The true storm damage hit Mississippi and Alabama.
BS! FEMA has known for decades what effect a CAT 4 or 5 storm would have on New Orleans and that the worst possible scenario was for the storm path to be slightly east of the city. There is no excuse for FEMAs actions. We still have three months left in hurricane season, leaving the same people in charge of FEMA is putting millions of peoples lives at risk. What are we supposed to do wait around for the next storm to kill more people?
FEMA MUST BE REORGANIZED NOW!!!
You have a good one too. Isn't that something to see, how GOOD people can be.
It's insane to blame this thing on Bush. There's something about the Corps of Engineers not maintaining the levees that mights have some relevance WRT Bush. I haven't read into that situation enough to have an opinion. But in general, it was a natural disaster out of his hands, followed by miserable leadership at city and state level. Had the mayor and governor been able to spark a brain cell between them, there would have been far fewer people impacted by the levee collapse. Also, the complete social breakdown could have been minimized with some ruthless treatment at the first signs of looting.
The leadership and social conditions in NOLA all reflect generations of unchecked leftist corruption.
People can survive many days, or weeks without food, not so many without water. I'm as perplexed as you as to why bladders of water were not dropped into areas where survivors were congregating. But I think that the local or state governments are responsible for preparing for such a contingency (you know, communities of people choosing to live in a particular area). Blaming the federal government for the problem is a sheer liberal, big government, cradle-to-grave dependency that addles the American spirit, capability and morale. Oh, and by the way, is a road to ruin.
There are lots of good arguments that posit that FEMA should be disolved - it will always be incapable of handling emergencies in local areas in quick time, and it lulls communities into believing that they do not have to watch out for themselves when assuming survival risks that would overwhelm the unprepared. Need I point out the obvious examples as proof?
From the Washington Post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476807/posts
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.
""The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
""A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.
""Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said."
Thanx, good find...
It figures.
Moronic Demoncrats ... .
CNN had a weak moment and reported the truth for a change.
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:RGrwXIfpv8UJ:www.cnn.com/rssclick/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/%3Fsection%3Dcnn_topstories+president+bush+called+blanco+mandatory+evacuation+new+orleans&hl=en
bump
Thing is, not only are the obvious criminal types terrorists, so are the anti-American media, democrats, ACLU, EPA, ad nauseum. They all fight desperately against and hate a good President because they are evil. It all boils down to the fact that evil people hate good people and seek to destroy them. We need a major clean-up. A downright sea change. If you're not for America, then shut up or go somewhere else or we'll kick you out. Pres. Bush is the man. The absolutely best President in the history of the USA, IMHO.
You should add FOX to the string of letters representing the media. FOX hides its true self. It gives much more to the DNC than the RNC. FOX is like the RINOs. Hypocritical. Enemy of Pres. Bush. Filled with Liberalism.
Someone here please get this mornings Today Show transcript of female reporter Campbell Brown interviewing Mayor Nagan. She is the first reporter to strictly and forcefully ask the Mayor why he didn't evacuate sooner and have a better disaster plan in place. The Mayor continually side stepped the questions directed at his inaction by shifting blame elsewhere.
bbumpity bump bump
Bet President Bush didn’t have to this time. ;o) Very hard lesson learned by LA...this tragedy turned LA Red...HA Got rid of Blanko elected a Republican Governor...look at the outcome of this awful mishandling by the locals...they screamed about Bush and the Republicans...now they are a Red state. How sweet is that.......
Yep!
Jindal was very in control today!
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