There is plenty of cheap housing and jobs in places like Indianapolis and Omaha. Living in NO is a luxury for the very rich...people who want to be "by the beach" but don't have the cash to fund their pleasures should not expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

The good news is the Bush Administration recently made it so that those living within levees have to have mandatory flood insurance (this includes the Kent Valley Briscoe Meander Levee on the Green River) until such time as they install (expensive) reinforced levees of sufficient durability that they will not breech in storm.

This should elevate real estate costs to their normalized level that includes the hazards of being in a flood plain with minimal protection.

This has nothing really to do with "taxes".

If you live herein Seattle, or Washington, or Caligornia, or Alaska, or Hawaii, when the big one comes just suffer and die, OK? I am sure your attitude will be "gee we don't have electricity all the hospitals are nonfucntioning 1/4 of the buildings are down and thousands are dying, but we won't be so greedy as to ask for help for out stupidity in living in a well known earthquake zone.

Same if you live where there are fires. Or floods on rivers. Volcanos. Hey let's just carve Cal., the midwest AND New Orleans out of the USA!

Unity. Nation. Who needs that crap, eh?

This is probably the most wrong blog post I've seen. I usually love the Slog, but this is pussy hand wringing WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING TO PLAN.

Katrina was a failure. Thankfully our government learns from mistakes.

You are totally right, of course. A much, much better job was done this time.

I'd claim that the combination of avoiding the pretense of any sort of safe shelter within NO, along with the buses and trains hopefully will make a difference.

To John Ballo et al:
Let's say I told you the planet Earth was about to be struck by a series of asteroids.
"Leave the planet, you idiot," I admonish you, "don't you have a rocket?"
Tsk tsking over your smoldering remains, I could say "well, that adjusted real estate prices properly. Why didn't these fools just leave? I gave them an evacuation order!"

If you think that willingness to leave, that exaggerated property values, are the major limiting factors stopping those born into the impoverished neighborhoods of New Orleans from moving to a safer place or better economy, you are beyond salvation in your ignorance.

But the Spokesman-Review wants $2.95 per article in their archive, and it's not worth it just to prove that Republicans are hypocrites. You knew that already, right?

Hey, you're right! The government has gotten so much better at evacuating New Orleans. And it only took one failed try, 1500 dead and a hundred billion dollars in damage!

Go Team!

We should do this every few years, just be sure we're still good at it. So much learning to do!

I'm sure on the third try--probably in about four or five years--we'll be even better! Practically genius at evacuating New Orleans. A few of what used to be every hundred year storms per decade should really help us get prepared. It'll be great practice for evacuating Manhattan when it starts to flood!

More proof, folks, that "compassionate conservatism" is just douchebaggery with a new name.

Do we really want hypocrites like this in control of the country again? Eight IS enough.

I live in Baton Rouge. I can tell you that as of this about half an hour ago, the interstates both east and westboud were viturally empty. Baton Rougeans are staying home, respecting those who are evacuating, and those who are evacuating got out way before it became mandatory.

Also, the shelters this time are further north (Shreveport, Arkansas, Memphis, etc.). Part of the problem with Katrina is that so many people were evacuated to Baton Rouge, but we sustained significant damage ourselves. Nothing like New Orleans, or the coastal parishes in the western part of the state during Rita, but it was bad enough.

People here started preparing early, too. The state is ready this time, and, though it pains me to say it, it seems like the federal government is, too.

It's pretty hard to evacuate people who are too stupid or lazy to leave. Happens with every hurricane.

@17 - What an incredibly ignorant comment. Yes, there is corruption in the city and in the state. Guess what? There is corruption in every major city and in every state. And yes, people will again refuse to leave. It isn't laziness. It's stubborness and hardheadness, though.

But I can tell you there are whole lot of people who didn't leave for Betsy, Camille, Andrew, or Katrina, who left this time around.

I just took offense to your whining that the state and federal gov weren't doing a good job again, when they very much are. I'm very glad journo's are trying to play hard hitting and questioning preparedness- and being assured again and again that the Gulf Coast is prepared.

So yeah. GO TEAM USA.

First, John B #2 - there's no fucking beach near New Orleans. Get some fucking geography lessons. Or better yet come visit and learn something about New Orleans.

I am so fucking tired of fucking idiots from elsewhere chiming in with their worthless opinions. New Orleans is here for reasons that are much more important than most of you can apparently comprehend. And since I'm kinda busy here on this end I don't have the time to educate you.

Oh, btw, the state and local governments are rocking right now. Evacuations are going smoothly and what's more impressive is that much larger areas are being evacuated than were during Katrina.

Tornadoes, wind storms, blizzards, ice storms, earth quakes, dust storms - name one place in this country not affected by these things. If you can, my question is why don't you live there?

http://www.texeme.com/

check out more moronic commentary from John Bailo of Kent, Washington here!

I hope that you will reflect on this sentence at some point and realize exactly how little sense it makes.

Good luck, people. Hang in there. We'll be thinking about you and wishing you safety in the storm.

It reminds me of FDR's decision to support the residents of the Dust Bowl. He gave them more money to stay than to leave. That land is completely worthless. It was briefly fertile due to an unusual wet period at the beginning of the century, but, over the long term, only buffalo can survive on that land. Once the Oglalla aquifer runs out, the people who stayed, and their descendants, will be up shit creek.

If New Orleans is decimated again, the government should give huge handouts to people who are willing to leave. If any rebuilding occurs, it should be exclusively privately funded.

The evacuation plans have run efficiently and thoroughly. Those that have remained seem to be well-provisioned and cognizant of the risks and the coming difficulties. Here's hoping things go better this time around.