Hurricane Ike is on the Way to the Gulf, Will Residents Evacuate....Again

Here comes Hanna, New Orleans gets on the evacuation bandwagon plenty early and in a big way. The Feds don't want to screwup again, they pull the plug and empty the city well in advance of the approaching hurricane. Busing residents as far away as Shreveport LA, everybody hits the road one way or another. In comes the National Guard, there's going to be no looters this time around. The city is empty, secured and all set for the big one.

Only problem is the big one petered out. Sure it was a good rain, the levee's held, and except for typical storm damage all is well. Of course there are power outages to content with, trees down, and sure it's a mess to clean up. But the whole sale destruction of neighborhoods didn't happen. Beyond a few days of clean up when the residents return home, life will go on as normal.

So how did the evacuees fair this time around? After being hauled away at the expense of the Government many found themselves stuck in poor facilities with lack of supplies and the basics of life not available to them. Did the Government think that these people could go for days on end without proper showers, a decent diet, and adequate space to be semi-comfortable? Nope, here we go again, warehousing people for too long a period of time, in conditions worse then what would be found in most prisons.

Finally after more then a week, people are trickling back to the Gulf Coast. Many making public statements on TV that this will be the last time they'll leave for a mass evacuation. Choosing to take their chances by staying put if and when the next one comes along.

What did these people expect? Was the Government suppose to set them up in the Hotel Ritz, complete with room service, heated towels, and plush bathrobes to lounge around in. This was to be a life saving or life preserving effort. Beyond a roof over their head and Meals Ready to Eat, you need to be able to provide for yourself. After all nobody is forcing you to live in a half submerged swamp that relies on pumps to keep the floods at bay.