To those who are now complaining about the local, state, or federal government's response to the disaster of hurricane Katrina, I offer this rebuttal: No one could have prevented this natural disaster or lessened its severity by any amount......... Of course you can't prevent the natural disaster but you can certainly minimize the human impact.
I lived in South Florida for 20 years and in South Carolina during the Hurricane Hugo era and my family has lived in South Florida for 45 years.
I know something about hurricanes.
I know that a strong building can cope with high winds just fine but that nothing that man can build can fully protect you from the brunt of a storm surge. A moving wall of water is one of the most destructive forces in Nature.
I know that where you live in Hurricane Ally determines if you can safely stay or if you must evacuate.
If you live in an area subject to storm surge, you need to get the hell out.
That is just Hurricane Basics 101.
My aunt lives in Key Biscayne. My brother has a condo in Key Largo. Other relatives live further inland in Miami.
If my brother hunkers down for a Category 4 Hurricane in Key Largo, he is guaranteed certain death. My aunt on Key Biscayne would not fare too well either. The folks further inland in Miami in sturdy cinder-block contruction houses do just fine.
Therefore, whenever a major hurricane barrels down on South Florida ALL of Key Largo is evacuated and my aunt leaves Key Biscayne to stay with family further inland in Miami.
You want to see what a major hurricane does to an unevacutated coastal area subject to storm surge?
Here it is. Florida Keys. 1935. :
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935...........In total, at least 423 people (164 residents and 259 veterans employed on the road project)(1) were killed by the hurricane. Bodies were recovered as far away as Flamingo and Cape Sable on the southwest tip of the Florida mainland.
Bottom Line:
You DO NOT stay in a storm surge area during a major hurricane.
New Orleans is below sea level in a storm surge area protected by levies designed for a Category 3 storm.
Katrina was predicted as a Category 5 and hit as a Category 4.
Re: South Florida - life with hurricanes
I understand exactly what you're saying. We've lived in South Texas for about 33 years and we always board up and travel North whenever a hurricane, Level 3 or higher, looks like it's heading our way. We never know whether our home will be there when we return. Each time we evacuate, our drive takes DOUBLE the time it would normally take. It's not fun--in fact it's a pain--but we accept it as part of life and we just do it.
I guess some of the people in New Orleans couldn't drive out. I just find it so hard to believe that they have lived on the Gulf Coast for so long, in a hurricane zone, and never thought or planned ahead what they would do when a storm hit! I mean, there's SOME kind of planning the residents could have done. Perhaps they could have made arrangements with neighbors or relatives to carpool, or maybe the population of a parish could have organized an emergency evacuation plan that would involve having their school buses pick everyone up. There are a lot of scenarios. You HAVE to have a plan.
We don't have a lot of different routes out of our area (Corpus Christi), so we can't wait for someone to MAKE us leave. We have to plan when we're going to leave all by ourselves. Admittedly, it's a HUGE temptation to wait until the last minute to see whether the storm is going to hit us or not--and we've waited almost too late a couple of times--but that is no one's fault but ours.
Bottom line: The people in this disaster area are not stupid, but maybe they're uninformed. Even though they've seen this type of disaster happen all along the Gulf to other people, they apparently need more education about it.
If they decided to stay during Katrina, it was a decision they made on their own--for whatever reason. I hope it teaches all of us not to take chances with our lives.
I want to clarify that when I said the extent of the disaster was inevitable, I was referring specifically to New Orleans and I don't think it applies to any other hurricane prone area of the country at all. The effects of hurricanes in Florida or Texas or South Carolina that you spoke of are possible to mitigate with current technology and established government procedures, but the city of New Orleans occupies a unique place.