Say bye-bye to NOLA vertical evacuation

[HurryKane]

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/14499004.htm

New Orleans hotels won't be open for hurricanes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS - Guests and employees will no longer be allowed to ride out hurricanes in New Orleans hotels, the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association says.

The hotel industry's decision to close for storms this hurricane season comes after thousands of guests were stranded in miserable and dangerous conditions after Hurricane Katrina. Staying in hotels during storms typically has been referred to as "vertical evacuation."

"I don't know of any hotel that intends to do vertical evacuation this year," said Bill Langkopp, executive vice president of the hotel association, which surveyed its members on their storm plans. "Our thrust will be to get the visitors out."

Last year, hotel were exempted from mandatory evacuation orders.

"Bringing people into a hotel for safe harbor was OK pre-Katrina. It is no longer acceptable post-Katrina," Langkopp said. "Pre-Katrina, the hotel community honestly believed that we could provide a place of safe haven. Now, the reality is that we need to look at getting people out."

Most hotel managers said it probably will not be a problem to get guests and employees to leave.