NOLA and Nagin....this season's plans announced today.

[skysummit]

Mayor Nagin of New Orleans will announce the newly revised evacuation plans today for the city. Supposedly they include using buses and trains to get people out of the city in case of another threat this season.

Locals....tune into 870am. They should broadcast it live today when the plan is announced.

[skysummit]

Just heard on WWL870 part of Nagin's plan will NOT include a shelter of last resort. He's warning residents to get out....they WILL NOT be going to the Superdome or Convention Center or any other shelter of last resort. They will need to get out. I can't wait to hear this new plan.

[gtalum]

Why make a new plan? He'll probably just ignore it like he did the old one.

[BayouVenteux]

Why make a new plan? He'll probably just ignore it like he did the old one.

Of course, it could very well be Mitch's problem to deal with by then.

Though it seems like an excellent idea, I'm not sure about the train option coming to fruition -- at least any sort of permanent solution that would already be in place in the event of a major landfall threat. Local post-Katrina efforts to get a passenger train running between Baton Rouge and New Orleans have had a hard time getting past the trial balloon stage.

Currently, the 2 passenger trains that I'm aware of are the Amtrak routes that run north/south (the "City of New Orleans") to Chicago, and east/west (the "Sunset Limited") to Houston and on to L.A.

I guess they would have to be commandeered into evacuation service if it was deemed necessary.

Of course, that's predicated on having a sizable amount of the local population needing transportation to evacuate. Currently, these people are not there, and whether they'll return to New Orleans still remains to be seen.

[skysummit]

Why make a new plan? He'll probably just ignore it like he did the old one.

It's just a way to attempt to get more voters prior to the election.

[skysummit]

Well, here are the details. Not too different except for the buses and trains....

12:03 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 2, 2006
WWLTV.com



Buses will be staged at the New Orleans Convention Center for evacuations both before and after a hurricane but there will be no shelter of last resort for the upcoming season, Mayor Ray Nagin announced Tuesday.


Unveiling his emergency plan in great detail, Nagin added that buses and Amtrak trains will be used to get people out of the city and that the most attention will be placed on the sick and elderly, who cannot otherwise get out themselves.


Nagin said it is also important that every citizen has their own evacuation plan and he plans to launch a Make a Plan campaign that will be touted this month.


For the upcoming season, Nagin said his office would have a direct line to the National Hurricane Center and Max Mayfield, its director for constant discussion on any storms in the Gulf of Mexico.


Nagin said the 30-hour from landfall time frame would remain in place for the city to make its evacuation call and that the contraflow plan would remain in place.


People with pets would be accommodated in the evacuation plan, but people would be required to have a cage for the animals in order to make use of buses and trains.


The New Orleans Police Department would coordinate with the federal government to try to prevent looting and to keep homes and businesses safe.

[crabbyhermit]

I heard on the news that Nagin will call a mandatory evac if a Cat 2 or higher is approaching. Despite Katrina, I betcha people in the parts of the city that didn't flood the first time are going to stay if it's only forecast to be a cat 2, or possible 'only' a 3. What do y'all think?

[Audrey2Katrina]

I heard on the news that Nagin will call a mandatory evac if a Cat 2 or higher is approaching. Despite Katrina, I betcha people in the parts of the city that didn't flood the first time are going to stay if it's only forecast to be a cat 2, or possible 'only' a 3. What do y'all think?

Oh, I concur. I think if it's "only" a 2 heading toward the area, those area in that (as you aptly put it) "sliva by the riva" will try to ride it out. Just about everyone else will be heading for the hills. Having heard that pretty much the ONLY repairs made have been in the areas we know Katrina already damaged, that leaves little consolation in those areas that weren't flooded only because the levee didn't breach in their area. After having seen/heard/reviewed numerous accounts on the ACOE jobs done around here, I have zero confidence in their capacity to withstand a cane of any respectable magnitude. It is potentially another tragedy in the offing--hopefully it will not get the chance to be realized.

A2K

[skysummit]

The problem with a storm being "only" a 2 is there are many that say, including myself, that New Orleans only experienced Cat 2 winds at most. The huge Cat 4 storm surge was on the east side....MGC. So if the wind that caused the water top, and eventually break the levees was only Cat 2 winds....they'll definately need to get out.

[crabbyhermit]

But skysummit, wouldn't you say that the floodwalls that gave way in the NOLA area felt the effects of the Cat 4 surge pushing the Gulf waters into into the canals (via the Industrial Canal and Lake Pontchartrain, for example)? My understanding is that those floodwalls weren't topped so much as they gave way with the force of the water and with 'scouring' on either side of the wall due to whatever 'surge' you had, as the water from the lake backed into the city's canals and the water from the gulf came up through MRGO and the Intracoastal waterway. In other words, the cat 2 or 3 force winds didn't cause the levee breaches.

In any case, I think we are still screwed if we get another significant storm this season....

[Audrey2Katrina]

In any case, I think we are still screwed if we get another significant storm this season....

Well here's praying that it doesn't happen!

A2K

[skysummit]

I don't know. So many people have different opinions of what happened, it's hard to tell. The true Cat 4 surge went into the MGC and back out. I'm sure a lot of it got fed into the Lake, however, not as much as if Katrina would've went a tad more to the west.

In Eden Isles, the surge that destroyed them, actually came from west to east...that's what a family said when WWL interviewed them. WWL rode with me there b/c they couldn't get there in their van.

[HurricaneJim]

All of that stuff was in a plan that a consulting firm did for them a few years ago to the tune of some millions but never made it off the shelf when the storm actually hit...

[CrazyC83]

The problem with a storm being "only" a 2 is there are many that say, including myself, that New Orleans only experienced Cat 2 winds at most. The huge Cat 4 storm surge was on the east side....MGC. So if the wind that caused the water top, and eventually break the levees was only Cat 2 winds....they'll definately need to get out.

In addition, the weakened levees and other infrastructure make evacuations necessary for weaker storms. I'd also order evacuations for tropical storms and Category 1 hurricanes that have a decent chance at strengthening.

[Dionne]

One things for sure.....in the event another storm strikes the same region as Katrina.......the last person out won't have to worry about turning out the lights.