It was Bush that asked the Gov and Mayor to order a mandatory evacuation, NOT their idea at all.

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

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.

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.

If you had spent much time reading this forum over the last week, you'd know that what you just wrote is twaddle.

The only way to prevent the lower level of hell we've been reading about would have been to ruthlessly stop looting when it started. You can't stop it once it's out of control, and the looting soon turned to sniping, raping, arson and murder.

BTW, one of the first things the thugs went after were guns and ammo. Then liquor, then "pharmaceuticals" at drug stores. Then hospitals for drugs, and food... Nikes, TVs, jewelry. Sure, they took food, it takes fuel to go on rampages.

If honest citizenry needed food (which they did, primarily because of their own improvidence), SOME ONE or SOME ONES should have been in charge, taken food from stores in an orderly manner, and distributed it fairly. Instead of ruining it and hoarding it.

The local gov't screwed up so bad they are now complicit in the deaths of thousands.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/28/national/main798819_page2.shtml

Bush Warns Of Katrina's Danger
(Page 1 of 2)

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 29, 2005

Unease In The Big Easy

President Bush is handed a map by Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, center, during a video conference with emergency management organizations on Hurricane Katrina at his ranch Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005. (AP)

"It's a very dangerous situation at this point. ...We're ready and awaiting landfall."
FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews

Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, barrels toward Louisiana at 175 mph. (AP)

(CBS/AP) President Bush on Sunday urged people living in the path of Hurricane Katrina to take the storm extremely seriously and to move to safer ground. "We cannot stress enough the danger this hurricane poses to Gulf Coast communities," said the president.

"We will do everything in our power to help the people and the communities affected by this storm," President Bush said as Katrina bore down on a stretch of coastline that includes New Orleans, a city sitting below sea level with 485,000 inhabitants. "I urge all citizens to put their own safety and the safety of their families first by moving to safe ground."

In addition to packing winds of up to nearly 175 mph, the category five storm also carried a threat of a massive storm surge.

Mr. Bush spoke with reporters on his central Texas ranch shortly after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an immediate mandatory evacuation for all of New Orleans.

Late Sunday, President Bush pressed for an emergency declaration in Alabama, which would allow federal operations in. Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi were already declared disaster states, CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller reports.

Mr. Bush said he had spoken earlier Sunday with federal disaster management officials and with the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

"I appreciate the efforts of the governors to prepare their citizenry for this upcoming storm," Bush said. "I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state level who have taken this storm seriously."

A day after declaring an emergency for Louisiana, Mr. Bush declared one for the state of Mississippi. Federal emergency workers were sending water, food and other supplies to staging centers in the Southeast expected to be affected by the powerful storm.

"These declarations will allow federal agencies to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with state and local officials," Bush said.

In Washington, Nicol Andrews, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said, "It's a very dangerous situation at this point. ...We're ready and awaiting landfall."

Mr. Bush declared states of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi to facilitate the emergency response.

The American Red Cross was mobilizing volunteers from across the country for what one official called its largest response to a single disaster in many years.

Bush Warns Of Katrina's Danger
(Page 2 of 2)

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 29, 2005

Unease In The Big Easy

President Bush is handed a map by Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, center, during a video conference with emergency management organizations on Hurricane Katrina at his ranch Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005. (AP)

(CBS/AP) "This is really an all-hands-on-deck scenario for the Red Cross right now," spokeswoman Carrie Martin said.

The Red Cross urged people, even those who think they are outside the storm's path, to prepare for an emergency.

"It could shift at any point. It's really a matter of not taking any chances, having the supplies in place," she said.

FEMA was moving supplies from logistics centers in Atlanta and Denton, Texas, to areas closer to where authorities believe the storm will create a need, Andrews said.

"The main priority right now is getting that stuff on the road and making sure that we have all the supplies that we have access to are in the right areas so that we can move in immediately," she said, adding that the agency knows "from 30 years' experience that these hurricanes are still largely unpredictable and can turn at a moment's notice."

The Red Cross encouraged people to turn to friends and family first rather than shelters because of the magnitude of the evacuation. Shelters should be for those who have nowhere else to go, Martin said.

...more at link

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