Scoop’s Views

When Hurricane Katrina was heading toward New Orleans, Louisiana just over three years ago, many residents were shoo’ing off warning to evacuate the city and other areas. In the case of Hurricane Gustav, estimates were for severe flooding and possible levy breaks. In essence, pretty much a repeat of Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, for taxpayers around country, as well as residents of the areas where the hurricane made landfall, the hurricane didn’t live up to its projections.

With Hurricane Ike bearing down on the South Texas to Louisiana coast, evacuation orders for many towns have been issued, including in Galveston, Texas, which saw 16,000 people die in a hurricane in 1901. Galveston now has 15-foot storm walls to protect the city, which is basically bowl-shaped, but the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service are saying storm surges could be as high as 20 feet – five feet over the storm walls.

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With all the local, state, and federal resources – money and manpower – that were poured into Louisiana, especially New Orleans, it’s hard to think that anything more than prayer saved the city from being ravaged at least as bad, if not worse, than it was a short three years ago.

Despite all the money pumped into coordinating services and evacuations, an estimated 10,000 residents of New Orleans stayed in town despite the mandatory evacuation orders. It’s hard to imagine these people would test their luck and stay.

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