# New Orleans: Just how bad a disaster is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482 "2005-08-31T20:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/81 "2005-09-02T03:19:08Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > In the other thread I was talking about obvious stuff that the government hasn’t done that baffles me. Here’s one: How about a tax break for ‘approved’ survival kits? Let companies make them and sell them, and if the contents of the kit meet the approved list, purchase of the kit is tax deductable. > > This is the kind of simple thing the government could do to mitigate disaster. Stuff like this never seems to happen, though. Sounds good to me. We could also use a network of mini-warehouses (on high ground) with bottled water, baby formula, MREs, etc. Most commercial buildings around here have designated tornado shelters. What we **don’t** have are necessities in safe, accessible storage. Churches, schools, jails, fire departments, city halls – set aside a room and stock it for emergencies. I’ve been watching the news reports, and I could be wrong (and often am), but it seems that aid was delivered to the tsunami region quicker than it’s getting to the Gulf coast. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/82 "2005-09-02T03:22:33Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’ve been watching the news reports, and I could be wrong (and often am), but it seems that aid was delivered to the tsunami region quicker than it’s getting to the Gulf coast. That could be true, but there could be explanations for it, too. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/83 "2005-09-02T05:19:09Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [Fats Domino is among the missing.](http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2005/09/01/fats_domino_is_missing_in_new_orleans/) Good news : > **[Miami.com Food, Tourism, Clubs & Travel News | Miami Herald](https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/)** > [@](#): > > Fats Domino apparently rescued by boat > > JAKE COYLE > > Associated Press > NEW YORK - Fats Domino apparently rode out the hurricane in his New Orleans home and was rescued by boat from his flooded neighborhood, his daughter Karen Domino White said Thursday. > > The 77-year-old R&B legend had been reported missing Thursday by his longtime agent, Al Embry, and his niece, Checquoline Davis. > > White said late Thursday that she saw a photograph of her father that had been taken Monday by the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The photo showed Domino, whose real name is Antoine Domino, in jeans and a blue-striped shirt being helped off a boat by rescuers. > > “We’re very relieved,” White said in a telephone interview. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/84 "2005-09-02T05:33:05Z")
In all the Katrina news, has there been any indication that the authorities had any sort of plans for dealing with evacuees/refugees at all? It seems like a big oversight not to have emergency provisions of food, clothing, or whatever for folks displaced by some catastrophic event – because how often are you going to have a catastrophic event _without_ having folks displaced? ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/85 "2005-09-02T10:18:06Z")
The news over here was saying that the number of fatalities is likely to be in the tens of thousands (it said some New Orleans official had given one hundred thousand as a possible maximum figure), it couldn’t be that high surely? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/86 "2005-09-02T13:02:59Z")
> [@enigmatic](#): > > The news over here was saying that the number of fatalities is likely to be in the tens of thousands (it said some New Orleans official had given one hundred thousand as a possible maximum figure), it couldn’t be that high surely? I don’t see how it could be in the hundred thousand range but I don’t think anyone really knows. People are covering New Orleans almost every second so they don’t report on some of the other stories. One is that a **part of Louisiana is missing**. That’s right. The 40 mile tip of [Plaquemines Parish](http://www.plaqueminesparish.com/) got reclaimed by the Mississipii river. Og knows how many people were there. Also, people will continue to die in New Orleans from many cause until everyone is out. Even then, disease could run rampant in the refugee facilities. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/87 "2005-09-02T14:56:51Z")
From [The NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02storm.html?hp&ex=1125633600&en=d2abfacae2d859f8&ei=5094&partner=homepage): > [@The New York Times](#): > > Chaos and gunfire hampered efforts to evacuate the Superdome, and, Superintendent P. Edward Compass III of the New Orleans Police Department said, armed thugs have taken control of the secondary makeshift shelter at the convention center. Superintendent Compass said that the thugs repelled eight squads of 11 officers each he had sent to secure the place and that rapes and assaults were occurring unimpeded in the neighboring streets as criminals “preyed upon” passers-by, including stranded tourists. I’d never have imagined things getting this bad. Never. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/88 "2005-09-02T15:32:46Z")
> [@iwakura43](#): > > No cite, but I recall reading that the population of Louisiana is heavily, heavily concentrated in the New Orleans region. Kindasorta. Population of the City of New Orleans: 484,674 () Population of the New Orleans metropolitan area: 1.33 million _(Id.)_ Population of Louisiana: 4.46 million ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana)) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/89 "2005-09-02T15:33:53Z")
Sorry, that cite for the city and metro population of NO is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New\_Orleans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/90 "2005-09-02T15:35:48Z")
> [@enigmatic](#): > > The news over here was saying that the number of fatalities is likely to be in the tens of thousands (it said some New Orleans official had given one hundred thousand as a possible maximum figure), it couldn’t be that high surely? The population of the city proper is almost half a million (see above). About 80% of the city proper is flooded. Do the math. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/91 "2005-09-02T15:57:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The population of the city proper is almost half a million (see above). About 80% of the city proper is flooded. Do the math. 80% of 500,000 = 100,000. About 25,000 of these waited out the storm in the Superdome, and are being evacuated to nearby states. Probably another 25,000 are desperately stranded around the convention center. 100,000 - 50,000 = 50,000. There are a lot of people still alive all around the city that still need rescuing. This still leaves the possibility of a death toll in the tens of thousands, but not hundreds of thousands, thank god. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/92 "2005-09-02T16:15:12Z")
Where did all those people who drove away from the city before the hurricane go? Just spread out among friends and relatives? Are there refugee camps for them as well? (And why weren’t they running convoys of busses for the carless ones along the interstates, before the storm, when the mandatory evacuation was given?) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/93 "2005-09-02T16:27:23Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > 80% of 500,000 = 100,000. No, **Ponder,** 80% of 500,000 = 400,000. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/94 "2005-09-02T16:33:52Z")
Sunspace, they went to other parts of Louisiana, and Texas. Baton Rouge is swamped with refugees. Everybody who had relatives in other parts of Louisiana went there. Those that had no family went to the refugee centers (of which Baton Rouge has a few). I think Memphis and parts of Texas also have many of their motels and hotels filled with refugees. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/95 "2005-09-02T17:23:39Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Sunspace, they went to other parts of Louisiana, and Texas. Baton Rouge is swamped with refugees. Everybody who had relatives in other parts of Louisiana went there. Those that had no family went to the refugee centers (of which Baton Rouge has a few). I think Memphis and parts of Texas also have many of their motels and hotels filled with refugees. Much as I despise Mississippi (my current home), it’s kinda sorta in there between Louisiana and Memphis. It, you know, exists. People are stopping at shelters here, too. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/96 "2005-09-02T17:30:13Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Sunspace, they went to other parts of Louisiana, and Texas. Baton Rouge is swamped with refugees. Everybody who had relatives in other parts of Louisiana went there. Those that had no family went to the refugee centers (of which Baton Rouge has a few). I think Memphis and parts of Texas also have many of their motels and hotels filled with refugees. Thanks. This is just heart-wrenching. If they ever need space in Canada, I’ll offer my place to a refugee. I did when the planes landed in Toronto (happily, it was not needed). Re: my previous remarks… It may be that the mandatory evacuation was after the storm. The question about evacuating the carless ones before the storm still stands. And there’s a little voice in the back of my head wondering, how long till the sea surface heats up again and another storm comes towards New Orleans? Even a cat-1 might have bad effects. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/97 "2005-09-02T17:39:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, **Ponder,** 80% of 500,000 = 400,000. Sorry, I meant the remaining 20% who stayed in the city. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/98 "2005-09-02T17:40:07Z")
Joe, sorry for forgetting about Mississippi. My US geography is not very good. Although you also have to deal with your own refugees from the coast, right? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/99 "2005-09-02T17:58:08Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Joe, sorry for forgetting about Mississippi. My US geography is not very good. Although you also have to deal with your own refugees from the coast, right? Sure, but it’s not as bad as it could have been. I know lots of churches, school gyms, and the like have been converted to use as shelters. Right now the biggest problems around here are gasoline (insane lines, severe shortages) and electricity. One woman I work with has been told she might be out of power for WEEKS. She lives in the outskirts of the city! Of course, she lives in what’s probably the second-poorest area of town (South Jackson for those in the know) while everyone else that works here who lives in or near the city got the power back yesterday at the latest. Of course, the rest of us live in the three least poor areas of Jackson (Brandon, Reservoir and Ridgeland for those in the know). What a strange coincidence… -Joe ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482/100 "2005-09-02T18:07:45Z")
> [@Johnny Angel](#): > > Damn. And here I was already thinking the song _Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?_ would have a new poignance. For my part, I was flashing on “The Drain They Call the City of New Orleans” . . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-just-how-bad-a-disaster-is-this/319482.md?page=6)