Word: nagin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...This is not a test. This is the real deal," Nagin announced, urging people to evacuate at an afternoon press conference with the Governor less than 48 hours before the storm hit. Still, he didn't make the evacuation mandatory, as at least one nearby parish had done. According to a New Orleans Times-Picayune story written that day, the mayor said he was having his staff research whether he could issue a mandatory evacuation, which he said was unprecedented...
...fact, the city's plan clearly allows the mayor to do just that. But Nagin also hesitated because the city might be held liable for unnecessarily closing hotels and other businesses, according to the article. That was a practical, if coldhearted, calculus in a city like New Orleans. "Any place that has a lot of tourists, it's very expensive to evacuate," says Kate Hale, who was director of emergency management for Dade County, Fla., when Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992. "It costs $1 million a coastal mile to evacuate. You're shutting down businesses. It's not something...
...evacuation earlier would have made a huge difference. As with every hurricane, some people don't leave, for all kinds of reasons, including that they simply can't. In fact the plan itself estimates that 100,000 residents would have no means of transport. At the press conference, Nagin said the Superdome would be a shelter of last resort for people with special needs. But even then, they were expected to come with enough food and drinks to last three or four days, Nagin said. The city's website advised people who needed a ride out of town...
...their credit, Nagin and state officials did pull off a complex traffic-evacuation plan that weekend, which involved reversing the traffic flow on three interstates. A similar scheme led to massive gridlock last year during Hurricane Ivan. Officials had just finished a new plan, weeks before Katrina. For people with cars, it worked beautifully. An estimated 80% of the population evacuated, which--if true--is a major accomplishment in any city--but especially in New Orleans, where residents have to travel at least 80 miles to get out of harm...
...Sunday morning, less than 24 hours before the hurricane's landfall, Nagin finally called for a mandatory evacuation. "We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," he said. Some city buses were dispatched to take people without cars to the Superdome to ride out the storm. But there is no indication that buses also ferried people out of the city, beyond the reach of water. In fact, a fleet of several hundred buses was left to languish in a lot that eventually flooded...