Lessons of Katrina could fade quickly

 1 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

Congratulations to the residents of New Orleans and others on the coast of Louisiana.

They conducted (endured?) a timely and orderly evacuation as Hurricane Gustav headed their way.

An achievement of this scale should not be taken for granted. Federal officials estimated the number of people who traveled inland at almost 2 million.

That’s as if every man, woman and child in Nebraska had packed their bags and left their home.

The cooperation of coastal residents was key to a greatly improved response to hurricane threat in the first test since Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf coast three years ago.

Also doing their part where federal, state and local officials who organized and supervised the evacuation and made sure that the emptied communities were kept safe from looters.

Importantly, the levees held. Improvements, such as splash pads to prevent overflow from undermining flood walls in the Industrial Canal, did their job.

New Orleans resident Macon Moore had the right perspective on Hurricane Gustav. “This was a good way for us to test ourselves a little bit,” he told the Christian Science Monitor.

The test could have been much tougher. Call Gustav a mid-term. In the end the hurricane did not live up to the hype. Gustav was downgraded to Category 2 before it hit the coast, and it struck New Orleans only a glancing blow.

It would be unfortunate if the success in coping with Hurricane Gustav led to complacency.

New Orleans residents’ sense of security will grow as work to upgrade hurricane protection for the city continues. The $15 billion storm-control system, including a $700 million gate, is designed to stop a storm surge before it reaches the Industrial Canal. The work is not scheduled for completion until 2011.

Some residents said they regretted leaving the city after Gustav failed to live up to predictions.

Evacuees sometimes spent hours in traffic lines, scrounging up money for gas and staying in crowded shelters or understaffed and overwhelmed motels, all while worrying about the safety of property and belongings left behind.

“The next one, I’m staying,” Reynold LeBouef Jr. told the Washington Post.

Gulf Coast residents will have to resist the natural tendency to let down their guard when hurricanes don’t live up to warnings. With potential hurricanes Hanna, Ike and Josephine poised offshore, the lessons of Katrina might be unlearned quickly.