Almost exactly three years after Katrina hit New Orleans, the city is again bracing itself for another massive hurricane. Hurricane Gustav is supposed to hit ground on Monday as a category 5- the most powerful hurricane. To put things in perspective, Hurricane Katrina was only a category 3 hurricane. According to the coverage on MSNBC a mandatory evacuation order has been issued. New Orleans will not offer emergency services to anyone who chooses to ignore the order- those people will be on their own. Unlike last time, residents will not be allowed to take shelter in the Superdome. The only options for evacuation are to drive or take a bus north out of the area. According to coverage, most of New Orleans are choosing to leave. It is a good thing that Katrina wasn't so long ago that people have forgotten the devastation.
New Orleans is also offering options for people who might not leave their homes because of their pets. As an animal lover, some of the most heartbreaking scenes from Katrina for me were stranded animals. The stranded people were sad too, but they had a choice to stay or leave, the animals didn't. Anyway, New Orleans is offering an animal registration program. Pet owners can register their animals and leave them in a safe shelter. When they return to the city, they will be able to claim their pets. A lot of people did not evacuate during Katrina because shelters do not allow pets. This option takes away that excuse for people who are considering riding out the storm.
The major question in all the coverage seems to be, Will the levees hold? No one seems to know. We can only hope that they do. One the lighter side of all of this, it is reported that President Bush will be unlikely to be at the Republican Convention on Monday in order to respond to the hurricane. It does take a lot of time and energy to fly over a disaster area. I'm sure he needs that time to prepare for his flight :)
Has the area learned its lesson from Katrina? Only time will tell. My hope is that they have. Even though this post focuses on New Orleans, Jackson, Mississippi and Texas are also targeted to be hit by Hurricane Gustav. My thoughts and prayers will be with the people of that region this weekend.
5 comments:
The administration cannot respond as badly as last time- only because they have an election to win this time.
I only disagree with one thing- you said the people had a choice to leave last time. Not necessarily true- most people who stayed were too poor to afford leaving. Nothing's changed this time, except perhaps the early reponse.
Ya, your right. I didn't really think of that.
Levees? What levees? The real repairs are slated for FY12! The only ones that are there now are dirt piles! Thanks BUSH!
At least it is only a 3 now, but it will still do a good deal of damage...
The same people who did have a choice to leave last time, but decided not too because they didn't have the money... had the same choice this time and luckily decided a bus ticket is a better purchase than 2 forties.
Lessons learned - no. Not with this administration. At least the governor and mayor were able to put something together to help the evacuation early. I was thinking in my head that they would do so and then it would veer off to one direction or the other...
Let's see which city sitting on a sand bar dissappears this time. You'd think people would learn not to build on the sandbars. The French choose an island in the swampy delta at least! (the French quarter)...
Hey Ian, I think the buses were free, provided by the city so they could bring their forties on the bus.
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