Big Easy Evacuees Set For Thursday Return

But Mayor Ray Nagin Doesn't Recommend Staying Permanently

(CBS/AP)  The road back home for the estimated 2 million Hurricane Gustav evacuees was slow going Tuesday, as those trying to filter into the coast were greeted by police checkpoints and National Guardsmen who told them it was still too dangerous to return.

But New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced that residents would be able to return to the city early Thursday to look at the damage caused by Hurricane Gustav, though he doesn't recommend anyone staying permanently.

The mayor warned that many homes still do not have electricity and that water and sewer systems are running on backup power.

Nagin says there are few businesses open and a dusk-to-dawn curfew will remain in effect.

Though the storm largely spared New Orleans and Louisiana, hard-hit neighborhoods still had no power, and roads were blocked by trees. With only a handful of communities allowing re-entry, thousands grew frustrated in shelters, sitting on uncomfortable cots and wondering why the buses wouldn't come and drive them back.

"I can't get upset, because this is an emergency, you know," said 88-year-old Malvin A. Cavalier Sr., who was turned away as he tried to return to his home in the city's Desire neighborhood. "I just have to be calm and try to do the best I can. If I have to sleep in my car again tonight, I have to do it."

A day after the city's improved levee system kept the streets dry as a disorganized and weakened Gustav passed overhead, there was quiet pride in a historic evacuation of nearly 2 million people. Only eight deaths were attributed to the storm in the U.S. The toll from Katrina three years ago exceeded 1,600.

"The reasons you're not seeing dramatic stories of rescue is because we had a successful evacuation," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "The only reason we don't have more tales of people in grave danger is because everyone heeded ... the instructions to get out of town."

The focus turned to getting the evacuees back home. Gov. Bobby Jindal said officials are focused on taking care of the roughly 1,000 critical needs medical patients evacuated from hospitals and nursing homes, while also working with utilities to restore the more than 1.4 million power outages the storm left behind - the worst utility damage since Katrina, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.

There's no apparent damage to oil rigs in the gulf, but production remains shut down. Also, the storm damaged the roofs of 25,000 homes and left 10 million cubic yards of debris - enough to fill more than 3,000 Olympic-sized pools.

Baton Rouge was hit especially hard, reports Pinkston. Among those killed were an elderly couple whose home was crushed by two enormous trees.

"We weren't prepared for 90-mile-an-hour wind gusts by any means," neighbor Susan Marchand told CBS News.

In the shelters, people far away from their homes were growing restless. There were fights at an overcrowded shelter in Shreveport, where doctors worried about medications running out and took several people to the hospital.

At a church in Fort Worth, Texas, Denise Preston was rushed to the hospital with a fever. The new mother endured a 12-hour bus ride with her infant son, just a week after giving birth via Caesarean section, to flee her home about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.

"It's frustrating. I'm ready to go now," Preston said. "They haven't said too much on the news about what's happened in my town. ... Me and the baby sleeping on a cot is hard. He has a crib, but he won't sleep in it."

Gustav is no longer a hurricane, but is still an ugly storm that's expected to dump several inches of rain in northern Louisiana and east Texas. Jindal said Louisiana was only at "halftime" and was worried the damage from rain could exceed Gustav's pounding of the coast.

"This is a serious storm that has caused serious damage in our state," Jindal said before leaving Baton Rouge for a helicopter tour of the mostly rural, low-lying parishes along the state's southeastern and central coast, also home to the state's oil and natural gas industries.

"We're pleased we have not seen major flooding in New Orleans and places that flooded before, but we are facing major challenges in other parts our state."

Power outages caused by Gustav have forced state officials to transport scores of patients from hospitals and other medical facilities for fear they couldn't survive long without air conditioning.

The state's secretary of Health and Hospitals, Alan Levine, told The Associated Press these patients were critically ill, and a few were from hospital burn units. As of Tuesday evening, none of the patients had died during the recent evacuation. He said Tuesday evening that 139 in serious condition had been evacuated.

"Our goal throughout this has been to minimize the loss of life and to protect our folks," he said.

The state estimated Tuesday that almost 700 patients in a dozen Louisiana hospitals may have to be evacuated over the next three days because the facilities do not have air conditioning.

Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge had to move high-risk patients - including some moved to there before the storm from other hospitals - after its own power went out and its generators kicked in. More than 30 patients might have to be moved, said Dr. Michael Kaiser, chief medical officer for the LSU Health Care Services Division. Those included 16 adults in intensive care, six in labor and delivery, eight newborns and a number - he didn't know offhand how many - on dialysis.

"When you're on backup power, there's a limited number of plugs you can use," he said.

In Mississippi, where sections of the Gulf Coast were still isolated by flood waters, Gov. Haley Barbour urged residents not to return to their homes until Wednesday.

John Furey, 65, of Pearlington, sat at an island in the flooded kitchen of his 70-year-old brother Pat's home. Both were still working to repair damage from Katrina when Gustav arrived - the only two floods to hit John's red brick home since 1964.

"This is the second time in three years," Furey said. "I just settled with State Farm in March."

Initial inspections of the Gulf Coast's extensive energy complex confirmed that Hurricane Gustav was nowhere near as destructive as Katrina and Rita, but resumption of production and refining could still take a few days or more. The market also reflected lessened fears as oil prices fell $5.75 a barrel, closing at the lowest level since April.

President Bush said Tuesday he was grateful that Hurricane Gustav was nowhere near as destructive as Hurricane Katrina.

"We are thankful that the damage in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast was less than many had feared," Bush said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday via satellite to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

"I commend the governors of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas for their sure-handed response and seamless coordination with the federal government," said Bush, who is traveling to Louisiana on Wednesday to survey damage. "I thank all of the wonderful volunteers who stepped forward to help their brothers and sisters in need."

Bush, who monitored the storm from Texas, said that while it's too early to assess Hurricane Gustav's damage to U.S. oil infrastructure, it should prompt Congress to OK more domestic oil production. He said when Congress comes back from recess, lawmakers "need to understand" that the nation needs more, not less domestic energy production. He planned to tour Louisiana on Wednesday.

The Census Bureau said that Gustav had affected 2.1 million people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and there was significant cleanup. Dickey Arnold, 57, rode out the storm with his wife and granddaughter in Franklin, 100 miles to the east of New Orleans. The owner of a residential glass business said he didn't see much work ahead, finding few homes with broken windows or structural damage after driving through town.

"That's mostly what I see when I went riding around town: tree damage, so thank God for that," he said.

Authorities tried to keep those who did flee Franklin and the rest of St. Mary Parish, both near the epicenter of the storm, from coming back too soon. Officials don't think there is power anywhere in the parish, and the focus is first on restoring electric to the hospital and courthouse. Sheriff's deputies were mostly picking up tree limbs from roads and watching homes where trees fell onto roofs.

"I've yet to see one that's uninhabitable," said sheriff's Maj. Mark Hebert. "It could have been worse. We have a lot of work to do."

Jindal said state officials are deferring to local communities on when they will reopen. Electric crews started work on restoring power to the nearly 80,000 homes and businesses in New Orleans - and more than 1 million in the region - that remained without power after the storm damaged transmission lines that snapped like rubber bands in the wind.

Jindal said there were 11,000 crewmen working on bringing back power to Louisiana, where the storm mostly damaged transmission lines - meaning large groups of customers could see he lights and air conditioning come back all at once. Still, Jindal warned those without power not to expect a fix overnight.

The New Orleans sewer system was damaged, and hospitals statewide were working with skeleton crews on backup power. Drinking water continued to flow in the city and the pumps that keep it dry never shut down - two critical service failings that contributed to Katrina's toll. The FAA said the city's airport was expected to reopen at 7 p.m.

Nagin apologized to the Republicans, which put the pageantry of their convention on hold to wait for Gustav to move through the Gulf Coast.

"You know, I think Gustav rained on their parade, on their little party," said Nagin, a Democrat, who cut his own trip short to his party's convention to prepare for the storm. "And hopefully they can rekindle. We'd love to host them in New Orleans next week, and they can come down and we can show them how to really do it right."

Like Jindal and Chertoff, Nagin took pride in a massive evacuation effort that succeeded in urging people to leave or catch buses and trains out: Almost 2 million people left coastal Louisiana, and only about 10,000 people rode out the storm in New Orleans.

"I would not do a thing differently," Nagin said. "I'd probably call Gustav, instead of the mother of all storms, maybe the mother-in-law or the ugly sister of all storms."

With three months left in the Atlantic hurricane season, he may yet get his chance. Three storms were lining up off the U.S. coast, with Tropical Storm Hanna leading the way. Hanna has plenty of time to strengthen into a hurricane before possibly striking Florida and Georgia later in the week.

[beechbaby-2009]

Are there no other cities along the Gulf Coast besides New Orleans???
How long are they going to whine about their hurricane issues without taking some control over the situation themselves? It seems that the other cities affected by Katrina have managed some "Southern Grace" with regard to putting their cities and lives back together...what about New Orleans??
I''m a born and bred Southern, raised in Chas., SC with LOADS of Southern Grace...weathered Hurricane Hugo and watched Charleston put itself back together with LOTS of grace and help for our neighbors. New Orleans needs to take a lesson from other hurricane ravaged cities and take some responsibility for its own actions and preparations!
How about some news about the cities that have made some positive progress with re-building?

[freckster]

Wow, what cynics y''all are. You''re spewing hatefulness before 7 AM. Are you the same people that type-lash others for not staying on point? Or are you the same people that complain about a slow news day?

Here you have all these people who lived through the terrible disaster that Katrina and Rita turned out to be. They''re fearful of the destruction that could have well happened again. They''re fearful of the disruption of their lives and the cost (in time, money, emotionally) of leaving their homes and crowding into shelters.

You guys sound like the same people that would criticize these people had they stayed and had a worse storm to deal with.

Find something constructive to do with your lives.

[twogunsono1g]

"It wasn''t her things," Grigg said of the woman. "It was her dogs."


Pure steer stuff!! What kind of idiot leave''s a dog home during a hurricane??

[lewiston14]

The people in the shelters are anxious because they want to get back and see how much free pity money they%u2019ll get.

Not this time around sorry. Government learns lessons to. The problem now is the likelihood of people leaving so quickly if at all. They were in such a hurry to get people out but while understandable are not in such a hurry to bring them back and many people knew this would happen. Perhaps by design what a clever idea. Unload over a million poor people with no intent to bring them back. A few will make it back on their own but not many.

[mollydtt]

For those of you that don''t live in cities with shelters for the hurricane displaced families---you don''t know what you are talking about if you are criticizing them. These people are far from home, making do with bare necessities, and they have spent 15-20 hours in bumper to bumper traffic driving away from the coast. They want to go home, they are tired of sleeping on cots, and here in Austin, the weather is always about 100 degrees every day--at least it isn''t raining, but it isn''t exactly heaven.
I hope this storm clears out fast, because I want people to know they can get back to life where they want to be and check on their homes. At least this year people were encouraged to bring their pets, and the local SPCA took care of them. Still, it isn''t fun being here and I''m so sorry they had to leave their homes. After a day or two or three, I''d be pretty darned cranky. The fact that most are so gracious even now after all of this is just above and beyond what anyone should have to endure.

[beechbaby-2009]

My point, Frekster, was that there were LOTS of other areas affected by the hurricane. How come New Orleans is the only one being talked about??? There are areas that were just as devastated by Katrina and just as anxious about Gustav...where is our concern for them? We seem to be focusing on the "whiner of the group".
What happens to the rest of the towns and cities that were affected? They don''t seem to be asking for the same handouts as New Orleans. From the lack of news coverage, you can only assume that New Orleans is the one looking for a handout and a chance to b**** rather than taking responsibility for the city on their own.

[arial13]

People in New Orleans need to realize that evacuation orders area are a fact of life. Mayor Nagin and the government screwed up last time and this time they did the right thing. If people think that bugging out during each major hurricane is a hassle-LEAVE AND LIVE ELSEWHERE! Otherwise, stay, get flooded, and learn to SURVIVE on your own without power, medicine, food for days til recovery. I don''t want to see you cry and whine on the roof of your houses ( for CNN) again because you didn''t heed the evacuation orders.
If people can''t get along under difficult conditions in a shelter (for their welfare and safety), I''m afraid what it might look like when the world ends!
Definitely won''t be there to join them.....No shelter for me!

[gop_forever]

besides Tennessee and Ky would make better beach front property..








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by AmericaBiker
===========================
Tornados happen in Kentucky and Tennessee. Its a recurring problem. Also they get flooding every spring! Maybe everyone should relocate to Maine. Nothing ever happens there.

[pensacola98]

The levees in New Orleans didn''t break until three days after Katrina passed and dumped rains that raised the water levels.

In my opinion, residents should wait until Thursday to learn if the levees will hold or fail. This storm has dumped most of the water in a different location that will drain and apply force against a different part of the levy system.

[realpatriot1]

MyOpinion,

I''m up every day at 4:30, so I guess that means I work harder than you.

I keep what insurance I can afford to on my house, which doesn''t include flood insurance(and I don''t live in a flood plain).

Most of the people trapped by Katrina work like you; your racist stereotypes only demonstrate your ignorance. If the flood of the Century came to your doorstep would you leave your job and be the kind of unproductive leech on society that you paint others to be or would you go to work, take care of your family and house, and hope for the best.

No one expected the leveees to break ***!

Once they did the federal government didn''t even try to get their citizens food or water for days until they were shamed into, but let an earthquake hit Pakastan or Iran and were johnny on the spot.

What does that and your viscious comments say about how much your party loves America? Have fun waving your Giant Flags at the Convention of Incompetence!

[realpatriot1]

Pensacola98,

I agree with you. Thanks for posting an intelligent and non-judgemental comment.

Americabiker,

I understand your sentiment and I appreciate the tone of your comments, especially compared to some of the others.

I''ve felt all along that the bulk of the rebuilding should be out of the flood plain, but the government can''t just take somone else''s land to rebuild for these people and the government DOES have an obligation to help them rebuild their lives since they were responsible for maintaining the levees whose failure caused the worst of the destruction.

The levees appear to be holding and if they continue to the investents already made will be salvaged. If not, then some other options will have to be found.

We all need help from our governments(local, state, & federal) from time to time, not just New Orleans. No one complained much when we had to rebuild LA & San Fran on the fault lines.

I hate having to pay for people of means to rebuild the same vacation homes on the same eroding beaches time after time; maybe they need to be required to put in a moat.

[barbaraf4]

New Orleans (and surrounding areas) evacuees: The minute you get back home, begin planning for your next evacuation adventure.

Those of you who remember driving around for several days looking for space for you and your three children, pack a tent and sleeping bags in the trunk of your car. Suddenly you will have your own portable emergency shelter. Self-reliance, what a radical concept!

Those who regularly commute to friends or relatives during evacuation emergencies, ask if you can store a few things at their house so you don''t need to worry about packing clothing.

Those who stay in the shelters with the sweating masses, take along a book or your knitting. Everyone looks so bored. Don''t you folks know how to entertain yourslves?

Mostly for those who don''t feel they can afford to evacuate, start putting a little money aside each month. These storms happen at the same time every year.

Every family should have an emergency plan.

[shouterguy]

Here''s what the G.O.P. nominee did for the last hurricane victims in Lousiana:

''Though McCain issued a statement the next week (after Katrina) calling on Congress to make sacrifices in order to fund recovery efforts, he was quoted in The New Leader on September 1 [2005] cautioning against over-spending in support of Katrina''s victims. "We also have to be concerned about future generations of Americans," he said. "We''re going to end up with the highest deficit, probably, in the history of this country."''

[shouterguy]

McCain on Katrina (cont.):

Forty Senators and 100 members of Congress visited New Orleans before McCain did; he finally got there in March 2006. He voted against establishing a Congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local responses to Katrina in med-September 2005. He repeated that vote in 2006. He voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to people affected by the hurricane, and in 2006 voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief.

[pensacola98]

The evacuees must wait patiently until towards the end of the week. Without power, there is no gasoline stations, or stores, restarants open for buisiness.

Also, the levee system needs to be examined carefully, before allowing evacuees to return. The levy during Katrina didn''t fail until three days after the storm. Three days after Gustav is around Wednesday or Thursday.

Donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund.

Commercial power and telecommunications restoral efforts are under way. Without power or fuel, nothing can be restored. If evacuees compete with restoral workers for fuel and power, then restoral will take much longer.

Even if the levy was safe, there is nothing for an evacuee to look forward to, without fuel or power. In such a scenario, any returning evacuee will hinder the restoral.

[barbaraf4]

"Donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund."
Posted by Pensacola98
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wrong. Donate items to your local church. Money donated to the American Red Cross will guarantee that our local Director will get paid his $500,000 salary this year. This means 500,000 people will have to donate $1.00 each before we even get into other overhead. Multiply that times all the local and area Directors and you get the picture.

[vastr-wcon]

.
We report, you decide:

A little blow and a lot of hot air.

1. Hurricane Gustav, or
2. sweetie hussein and plagiarist-joe.

/

[mjvw2]

Hurricane Gustav was the first "wolf" cry. A couple more "wolf cries" and New Orleans will, like before Katrina, do nothing. Then the next Katrina comes and you can all blame it on Bush.

[lewiston14]

Most of those people look like they could stand a month or two with eating

[sistatee-2009]

The evacuees are in a rush to get back because welfare checks are due TOMORROW!

[displeased]

Money donated to the American Red Cross will guarantee that our local Director will get paid his $500,000 salary this year. This means 500,000 people will have to donate $1.00 each before we even get into other overhead.
Posted by barbaraf4

Can you show this source of information or is this speculation? I''ve read on past auditor reports 12% of their donations go to administration. Any sources showing otherwise would be appreciated.

[displeased]

Most of those people look like they could stand a month or two with eating
Posted by lewiston14

That''s the south for ya.

[xmanborg]

gop_forever

YOUR A FRACKIN IDIOT, God had nothing to do with this storm and prayer deflected nothing. Its a STORM and Storms have been Occuring on the planet earth for Hundreds of Millions of Years. PRAYER AND GOD HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

[talkingham]

Don''t come back ever, please. Let''s blow these ***** and turn NO into the swamp it should be. Why should we keep investing billions in this human sinkhole.

[sistatee-2009]

Why should we keep investing billions in this human sinkhole.
Posted by talkingham at 02:02 PM : Sep 02, 2008

You don''t get it. That IS the point. Keep spending billions on a sinkhole. Somebody''s COLLECTING those billions.

[rohink-2009]

This is the lead story? Couldn''t you find something about Obama?

[xmanborg]

gop_forever

Stop giving GOD CREDIT FOR STORMS THAT OCCUR NATURALLY ON THE PLANET EARTH.

gop_forever YOUR A FRACKIN IDIOT AND GOD HATES YOU !

[xmanborg]

gop_forever

PRAYER HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORM OR ANYTHING THAT OCCURED IN NEW ORLEANS LAST WEEKEND.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING gop_forever YOUR AN IDIOT.

[gonetosoon-2009]

Hurricane Gustav was the first "wolf" cry. A couple more "wolf cries" and New Orleans will, like before Katrina, do nothing. Then the next Katrina comes and you can all blame it on Bush.

Posted by mjvw2

You are so consumed with blaming everything on Bush you can''t even understand the basic split between federal, state and local responsibilities. The local government is responsible for issuing evacuation orders and the state and federal agencies provide the support and logistics to accomplish it. Each Parish President, and in the case of New Orleans the Mayor, issued their own evacuation orders. The state provided support by contracting buses, trains and planes and executing the Contra Flow Plan. The federal government provided air ambulance support and logistics transport under Title 32.

Another thought, people will do as they please. No government order to evacuate has ever been fully executed. Even under this evacuation plan over 100,000 refused to leave. In the end the decision is theirs and sadly some will pay the ultimate decision for their decision to stay.

[beehive21-2009]

The Red Cross,is internationally welcomed,has and shall continue to do a great job,so, get off there backs and go volunteer,you pigs.The people should have never left,it make for pure excitement,priceless.

[gunfighter51]

I wonder if Rep. William Jefferson has been home yet?

[republic1776]

XmanBorg, That''s strong words coming from a race of Humans that cannot travel at the speed of light yet. And if we could, it would take 20,000 light years to leave our OWN galaxy.

[gunfighter51]

gonetosoon,
Don''t waste your time trying to explain something as complicated as government to a liberal, you might as well be speaking to a brick wall.
They lack the necessary skills to comprehend such simple matters.

[sistatee-2009]

Could somebody nuke the Big Hopeless, and end this madness?

[aggiekat2004]

The evacuees are in a rush to get back because welfare checks are due TOMORROW!

Posted by SistaTee
=========================
Who do you think delivers them?

Posted by gop_forever at 01:30 PM : Sep 02, 2008
-----------------

Uh, God? Personally?

GOP_forever''s an idiot...AGREED.

[aggiekat2004]

I''m assuming that THIS TIME everyone evacuated and were placed in shelters in schools and such.

If we''re going to be putting up people in hotels and hiring private buses every time that there''s a hurricane in the gulf...who''s paying for this??

[aggiekat2004]

Actually...GOP_forever...

God must have brought Gustav to the Gulf to divert attention from Palin''s daughter''s out-of-wedlock baby. I KNOW He had a hand in it.

[xmanborg]

republic1776

Well as soon as we are able to travel at the speed of light I will put gop_forever on the fastest space ship and send her to the Republican Galaxy where everybody looks like George Senior, George W and Connie Rice and ***** Cheney.

[xmanborg]

republic1776

Sorry I forgot to add the space ship will crash into a Large Un-Charted ASSs-TERD-OID and gop_forever will be lost for ever and the Universe will be a much better place.

[donevis-2009]

THE McCAIN CAMP IS TRYING TO BAR CONGRESSMAN DR. RON PAUL FROM SPEAKING AT THE CONVENTION. HE''S A REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN AND DESERVES FAIR TIME TO SPEAK. THE MEDIA IS NOT REPORTING THIS. ALL THEY WANT TO FOCUS ON IS PREGNANT TEENS!!!

[talkingham]

Oh wow corey, Phoenix had a thunderstorm, I know that''s a really trying experience.

Katrina was so strong I lived more than 200 miles from where it hit and we still lost power for a week. U jerk.

[airboatboy]

I''ve never seen so many people hung-up on politics. Doesn''t anyone see through the BS of both parties?

[mollydtt]

People are tired, frustrated, and want to know whether or not they have a home to come back to. When the next mandatory evacuation order comes before the next big hurricane, no one will leave.

[xmanborg]

Gustav''s family members Hanna, Ike and Josephine are on the way to visit the United States and maybe visit New Orleans, so don''t unpack people of New Orleans so quickly you may be doing this all over again in September a few times.

I wish you all the best but having to evacuate over and over again would get VERY OLD and cost lots of $$$$$ in the long run. Time to Move some place else.

[mo005]

Yep you people need to live off the other states as long as you can, then we be lettin you back in to the toilet bowl,I mean french quarter. I don''t remember any of this hoopla when the floods happened a few months ago. They took care of it them selves and never did ask for help.

[xmanborg]

Well George W Bushie is going to come and visit the Gulf Coast on Wednesday and act like he cares about New Orleans and Black People.

Fyi: George W Bush nobody believes you any more with all you Lies and B.S and everybody thinks your a Frackin Idiot.

[sistatee-2009]

I''''m assuming that THIS TIME everyone evacuated and
If we''''re going to be putting up people in hotels and hiring private buses every time that there''''s a hurricane in the gulf...who''''s paying for this??
Posted by aggiekat2004 at 03:13 PM : Sep 02, 2008

Who''s paying for this? Everybody that DOESN''T live in New Orleans.

[pensacola98]

I think Mayou Nagin wants to make those CNN news stories about "The guy walking in chest-deep water while holing an umbrella over his head", a thing that doesn''t happen in New Orleans.

[pmsnbc1]

Fyi: George W Bush nobody believes you any more with all you Lies and B.S and everybody thinks your a Frackin Idiot.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by XmanBorg at 04:14 PM : Sep 02, 2008




Great. Please send back the $19 billion he sent them.

[u-r-right]

Why only in New Orleans is there such a fuss everytime a hurricane hits? Why not Florida oe Mississippi or Texas? Why all the attention (and resources) for N.O.????? Come on folks, if you can''t cope with the storms, move away from them and improve yourselves. Your habitat belongs to wetland animals.