Where would that have been? Almost the whole of the city is low ground and how far would you have walked leaving your home?
That's true and some didn't make the prudent decision...
....
And where would that be? I'm unaware of any particular location that gets hit w/ tornadoes on an annual basis. While in "tornado alley" it's been over 20 years since been one closer than about 1-1/2 mi of the house. That's hardly enough that one could expect no one w/ limited finances to not use what alternatives there are for affordable housing.
No tall attics are meant to be habitable. Many are just a space above the ceiling and only a small hatch to access it. Mine has gable vents, no floor except a couple of planks down the center. If I could get there in rising water and save my life, I'd give it a try. You get desperate when death is very close.
Even most people with no cash still have legs that they could have used to get to higher ground a day before it hit. Not like the hurricane just appeared without any warning.
Or not like everyone in New Orleans hasn't been saying "phew, lucky another one just missed us" for years now.
This is like the trailer park people farther north who lose their homes in the same area year after year every time a tornado comes through, then wonder why.
If you poke fate with a pointed stick daily, don't be surprised when it finally bites you right in the ass.
It's natural selection. Those with the brains to get out did, and they get to reproduce. Those that weren't that bright stayed, and here's the result.
That's all well and good if you have the means to do so. I'm sure that some figured they could "ride it out." I'm equally certain that many, many more did not leave because of lack of ability or resources to do so.
That is exactly true, either. There was/is significant storm damage...the additional flooding on top of the already existing is simply compounding the situation. It appears to be "only" an additional
3 ft or so on top of what was there.
That many didn't make the prudent decision to leave (or were physically unable to do so) is still true...
My grand parents used to have a very old egress. They kept in a leather suitcase. My sister and I found it some time ago. We opened the suitcase, and the next thing we knew, we were out of the house entirely. That was one very mean egress.
Guess that's why they talk about means of egress?
More seriously, so you're on the second floor, and the water keeps rising. What's the choice? Up the stairs and hope for the best, or out the window.
Into maybe 150 mph wind-whipped water on the coffee table???? Think I'd take my chances on hanging on in the upper level inside until forced to the roof...
Put a hatchet in the attic and leave it there. maybe some bottled water & canned food as well. Then, if you ever need it, it's there.
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These folks got flooded after the storm passed. During a 150MPH storm the LAST place I would want to be is up near the roof. That is very likely to become a kite.
You can't compare NO to the normal hurricane threat. The rest of the people were not living below sea level. Storm surge comes and goes, this water just came in and had nowhere to go. The Corps is talking about months before they can pump that water out.
When you get a few tens of people doing what appears to be irrational things they're dismissed as stupid. But when there are something like
50,000 doing it in a time of crisis then its what people do that makes sense for what ever reason. It then becomes the responsibility for the officials in charge to figure out what to do to mitigate the consequences to the victims. Lets not play the blame game.
Now even the tourist brochures use the flooding of N O as black humor to show how high the waters would rise to drown the buildings should the levees break. We now learn that its more than just the drowning of buildings and its no joke.
In the run up to Katrina there was a mandatory evacuation warning. Officiclas would know that there will be people who insist in staying and take their chances. What wasn't anticipated was that many would stay and that all the services would break down and incapable of being restrored any time soon. One immediate lesson I can think of is if people are going to stay there should be widely available information on what should one do and what emergency supplies should one have at hand. A thought would be to wear adequate clothing and shoes ready for an immediate evacuation. To have an emergency pack at hand that is no larger than a backpack for a quick exit. To have emergency supplies in the house that will hold out for a week's isolation. This includes drinking water, high energy waterproof packaged food. The equivalent of a swiss army knife (China made ones cost only a couple of bucks). A whistle, a flashlight, something that can serve as a signalling mirror. Extra batteries for a cellphone. Some floatation devices. Etc. I didn't see any chainsaws being used. These would have been essential equipment to cut victims free from fallen stuctures.
For the officials those half drowned school buses in the parking lot should have been used for the evacuation. Its an obvious oversight now but future disaster planning in any district should do that. It will also be necessary to have a plan as to where to put them at the receiving end. You can't just bus thousands of people to another town and expect them to fend for themselves, especially when they have no car and no money.
Anyway the events in N O and Florida have clearly shown that lots of people will still be trapped in a storm whatever the authorities say about getting out before the storm hits. Lets use the N O experience to figure out how to do things better the next time round. Lets not forget there is still two months left in the hurricane season.
Never seen a hip roof? You must live in an older city (pre-1950s), and not get out much. From the post-WWII era, right up until the modern drywall McMansion era with multiple faux gables, hip roofs (at least on one-story houses) were considered to make the house seem more low-slung and modern-looking. Makes the attic space (if you can call trusses an attic) harder to vent, but what the hell, it looks sleek.
"For the officials those half drowned school buses in the parking lot should have been used for the evacuation. Its an obvious oversight now but future disaster planning in any district should do that. It will also be necessary to have a plan as to where to put them at the receiving end. You can't just bus thousands of people to another town and expect them to fend for themselves, especially when they have no car and no money"
You are absolutley right. The crybaby mayor now on TV blaming FEMA for a slow response didn't have sense enough to use the school buses that were sitting there fully fueled to offer free rides to anyone needing transportation prior to the hurricane's arrival.
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But it's even worse than that. The Burboun Street bars were hosting hurricane parties the night before the hurricane. Local TV stations were covering the Mardi Gras like celebrations on the news. The foolish Mayor/Governor/Police Chief allowed this to go on, which sent a message to millions of viewers that if the bars were open, it was OK to stay and couldn't be all that bad. Many other shore area communities routinely make evacuation mandatory and the send emergency personnel into neighborhoods with bull horns ordering people to leave. Had NO officials done this, things could have been a lot different.
Our house, a 1967 raised ranch has a hip roof. The overhang is very wide (36") with continuous soffet venting. The roof first had an electric vent fan and when that failed instead of replacing it, a later owner put in two "whirly-turban vents" (can't think of what they are called). Those solutions must be working OK since we still have the original roof and it's in pretty darn good shape.
If somehow we were flooded (not likely as we live way up in the highland above Ithaca NY) and had to go up to the attic to escape, I suspect we could get through the whirly turbans or somehow punch out the old electric roof fan.
Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00
'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...
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