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BREAKING NEWS: Gustav makes landfall as category 2 hurricane. Hannah now hurricane.

Wow - people are not even bothering to read what I've posted.

Strangely - I never called anyone an idiot for staying - yet I'm being told that I have and getting flamed.

Not even a concesion that somone who sees this :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7590336.stm
and then
"I will be going through the storm at my home"

Might, PERHAPS, just frickin MAYBE have just cause to wonder why someone would do that.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7590426.stm
"America's homeland security chief, Michael Chertoff, said the main evacuation was going well but he warned that some people seemed determined to ride out the storm. "That strikes me as exceptionally foolish," he said and appealed for the "maximum level of co-operation from the individual public".


All I get is a pointless unjustified flame war from people who again and again totally fail to read what I've posted, and then say I've said things that I have not.

I'm done here. I just hope the emergency services don't have to come and save the people staying behind.
 
OrleansMac: Good Luck, I wish you my best. My family evacuated from Jacksonville, FL shortly after moving seeing Floyd 10 years ago, and I know it's hard to leave.

I hope you come through this well, Hurricanes are really "teh suxxorz".
 
Here are some of the many reasons listed by those staying...

Defiant few remain in French Quarter as Gustav approaches

CNN said:
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- By Sunday afternoon, thousands of people had evacuated New Orleans, leaving behind a shell of a city.

In the French Quarter, the maroon, purple and pink buildings are the loneliest they've been in years.

The weather is sunny, with no clouds, and extremely muggy. But there are plenty of signs of an approaching storm.

For some, leaving was a no-brainer. But for others, deciding to stay was just as easy. Watch an audio slideshow about the evacuation »

"Turbo isn't going to let anything happen to us," bartender Marita Jager said, nodding toward her German Shepherd lying in the doorway, gnawing on a turkey leg. "He protects us from everything."

This is the kind of joshing the regulars at Johnny's love to give out-of-towners. It's a tiny "hole in the wall" by one person's description, with a jukebox and two televisions usually playing a ballgame.

On Sunday, of course, the TVs were tuned to CNN and the Weather Channel, but the laughs and conversation drowned out the volume.

"People need somewhere to go for some normality," said Jager, pouring a gin and tonic. "We're gonna stay open for the whole thing."

No one is leaving New Orleans whose butts are planted on Johnny's wobbly bar stools. They repeat the chorus of many who decided to face Gustav. I will not leave my home. I survived Katrina so I can deal with a Category 3. I can't afford a hotel or gas or meals. I don't want to leave my animals.

There is defiance in their words. To stay is a way of telling Katrina, by way of Gustav, you're not going to hurt me again.

But Marcie Ramsey is scared. She wipes tears away and puts out her cigarette. She is planning to bartend at Johnny's throughout Gustav if it hits during her graveyard shift.

"I just cannot take it when I think about this city going through that again," she says, sniffling. "I saw the Humvees and the National Guard driving down my street this morning and they waved and shouted at me. They remember me from back then, you know.

"And that sorta made me feel better because now, at least, there's qualified people holding the bad people back," she said.

"Yep, nobody around here, the folks here at this time, are leaving," said James Broden as he walks into Johnny's. "We've been warned. I know, I heard it all on the news -- that 'nah, nah, blah, blah, blah.' Whatever."

"I don't have a car. I don't have a bike," he said. "I moved here from Florida and I know what a hurricane is like. I'm staying."

Elsewhere in the French Quarter, there were a few signs of life earlier Sunday. A rider on a 10-foot-tall unicycle wheels down Chartres Street. An hour later, four National Guard Humvees rumble along Bourbon Street.

At Toulouse and Royal streets, building after building is boarded up. On Royal, across from the Rib Room, a bar, boarded up with plywood, has a simple message in big black letters: "Live." Nearby, a cardboard sign echoes the sentiments with another single word: "Leave."

On nearby Toulouse, Jacob Lewis and friend Bill Espy headed home after a raucous Saturday night. Lewis wore a black mesh see-through T-shirt with a loosened plaid tie, his eyebrow and lip pierced. Espy wore his blue shirt completely open, and he has a leprechaun tattoo on his right arm.

They passed a hanging sign advertising "huge ass beers to go" on the front of a bodega. Its storefront, like every other building in the French Quarter, was boarded up.

Lewis and Espy were still debating whether to leave New Orleans.

"I live with a roommate, an older man who is refusing to leave," Lewis said. "I can't in good conscience leave him behind, but I want to leave. I don't have the energy to go through this again after Katrina."

"Yeah, I should probably leave, too," Espy said, laughing. "At this point, after seeing the weather report, I'm starting to change my mind."

Espy, who works at antique and flower shop, said he may have a way out. His boss has two vans to take friends and employees out, and he's hoping to find a seat on one. But Espy, who has family in Nashville, Tennessee, didn't know where the vans are going. And he hasn't reserved a seat yet.

"How much time do you think I have?" he asked.

"Not much time," a reporter responded.

And with a shrug of his shoulders, he kept walking.

A few blocks away, Monty Mashburn is sweating in the kitchen at the restaurant of his namesake. Reporters are chowing on omelets and home fries.

"We're not idiots," said Mashburn, throwing hash browns on a sizzling grill. "We've gotten a raw deal from hurricanes so I make the decision to stay with seriousness."

The 58-year-old moved into a home above the restaurant after losing his home in Katrina. The former owner of Monty's died of a heart attack inside the restaurant during the hurricane, he said.

"I've got $30,000 worth of food for this weekend and the last weather report I saw said it wasn't going to be worse than a 3," he said. "I just can't leave. And besides, people like you reporters need a place to eat, right?"

Three generations of Mashburn's family have run the restaurant. It's a Fort Knox, he said.

"If I think it is going to be bad, I'll get me and my family out," he said. "I will. Nothing is worth the harm, but for now, I don't see the need."
Click to expand...

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
djellison said:
I don't wish to sound disrespectful - and I've never lived thru a Hurricane- but I've seen your Mayor telling people to get the hell out of the city - I've read of a mandatory evacuation order in St Johns.

As a result, I'm left thinking...what the hell are you thinking? What's watching the house going to do? You can't watch the winds down, or watch the flooding away. 18+ft surge over 8ft levees really doesn't bode well.
Click to expand...

Well to better understand, you would have to have a better understanding of the topography of the area. 1) I am 35 miles west of New Orleans. This means we are not prone to the same dangers. 2) Although there is a mandatory evac, it's not entirely necessary for my area because of the increased protection in my town. There are areas of the parish (North of US 61) that will flood from surge which is where the largest chunk of our population lives. 3) My street is 10ft. above sea level, and my lot is an additional 5ft on top. 4) My house is steel reinforced brick rated for Cat 4 winds.
In short, for my immediate area to flood out there would have to be a slow moving cat5 hurricane, which is not what we have here.
 
On another note. This isn't our first go round with a hurricane. Typically we would evacuate for a 4 or over, but being it's a 3 and we are better prepared we decided to stay. BTW, mandatory evac means that during the storm event emergency services will not be available to residents.

And please posters, do not pass judgment on people because there are many different situations people have. Especially if you've never been through a hurricane.
 
Go get em Dave. If you are experienced with this scenario then go for it. My parents used to live through typhoons all the time when they lived in Guam.

I'm sure there are plenty of people like you who know the area, know what precautions to take and aren't going through their first rodeo. If you are willing to accept the risk than I say go for it.

By the way, nice Threadless avatar.

jon
 
Daveway and OrleansMac keep us informed as you are able.

And any others who happen to be riding out the storm... that includes you iSaint

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
I just found out that my subordinate will be going to help cover the aftermath since I'm still on leave. :(
 
About 24 hours till it starts all over again:(. My step-dads business and warehouse along with his customers where wiped in Katrina. Ill try to get on with netshare for updates. I might go to my dad's in St. Helena, it has is open country and they have a nice big Honda generator. Im on the northshore now.
 
Landfall should happen shortly, good luck to everyone who is staying. Im no expert, but this doesn't look good. They are predicting a CAT 3 when it makes landfall, which from the looks of the path is going to be just to the west of NO, which will put NO right in the worst of the winds and storm surge, which is on the eastern side of the hurricane. I read somewhere that "The levies should be able to hold." How are they supposed to hold if there are still holes in them? If your talking about a 15-20 Ft storm surge, an 8-10 Ft levy that isn't 100% fixed yet isn't going to do much. I kinda wish I could stay up overnight to watch this thing. I've always been fascinated by storms. Stay safe everyone!
 
iGary said:
I'm not. I'm genuinely curious why one would stay (if they had the means to get out).
Click to expand...

Me too. We got a good answer from Daveway, though.


I think it's stupid not to leave if you are capable of doing so, even if it's not comfortable for you economically or otherwise. If you aren't, then surely there must be some government-organized method of bussing people out of there and providing these people and their families with a place to stay for free. No offence, but money's no good to dead people, right? Healthcare is more expensive than a short-term loss of salary, no?

I realize that leaving is not just a matter of putting some things in a backpack and driving off. There are lots of things to consider, but I certainly hope that the people who are choosing to stay don't have children. Risk your own life if you want, but not your children, who can only live with your decision rather than make their own decision and leave without you (unless they're over 18-20 or something). Singles....well, I don't care about you. ;) Good luck if you choose to stay, and I hope you and your home is safe.
 
you know, even if the natural disaster impact is as bad or worse than katrina, i think folks will be okay. i don't think anyone would allow the complete failure to respond effectively to happen again.

it's already started with the evacuations, good job everyone, and we are praying for you guys.
 
i saw the 'levees' at new orleans, they didn't look like levees, that's more like a 5 foot concrete fence. new orleans' government has failed again in protecting the city, but i heard so far it hasn't broken yet. new orleans should know better how to protect the city. they are on the gulf and know that 'the big one' could come again, same applies to anyone on the gulf or southeast coast (less for the northeast and west coasts). people here in florida know that, a katrina debacle (as in the post storm help) would unlikely happen here (i know new orleans is a unique situation with it under sea level).

as for me, if anything above a cat 3 were headed near me, i would be leaving. cat 5 anywhere close to me (landfall is expected to be within 100 miles or so), also gone. looks like we may have two storms on our hands locally, just after we got done with fey.
 
furcalchick said:
i saw the 'levees' at new orleans, they didn't look like levees, that's more like a 5 foot concrete fence. new orleans' government has failed again in protecting the city, but i heard so far it hasn't broken yet. new orleans should know better how to protect the city. they are on the gulf and know that 'the big one' could come again, same applies to anyone on the gulf or southeast coast (less for the northeast and west coasts). people here in florida know that, a katrina debacle (as in the post storm help) would unlikely happen here (i know new orleans is a unique situation with it under sea level).

as for me, if anything above a cat 3 were headed near me, i would be leaving. cat 5 anywhere close to me (landfall is expected to be within 100 miles or so), also gone. looks like we may have two storms on our hands locally, just after we got done with fey.
Click to expand...


I would cut them some slack. Complete rebuilding the system takes a lot of time and money. It was known that it was not completed.

Now the last time yeah the city screwed up by not maintaining the system but even at it prime it would not of taken Katrina. It was only designed for a Cat 3. Designing for a Cat 4 or 5 does is just more money than it is worth. The odds are that Cat 4 or larger will not hit directly. Cat 3 is really a good balance between the 2.

Gustav to me is yet another example of the Media going down hill. It hit only as a Cat 2 (not major) and yet the media took the off chance that it would slam home at Cat 4+ on a more remote chance of hitting New Orleans which was not even its lightly land fall. Now exvactorwaiting might be a good idea but the media really needs to tell the truth more than always doing worse case.
 
Crap, 2nd week into college here in Daytona and Hanna wants to kick me out. DAMN YOU!
 
So we came out relatively unscathed. The weather started picking up around 8am yesterday and peaked around 12pm. We lost power really early, but we do have a generator.
Damage wise, our area was okay. There are lots of trees, powerlines and shingles gone, but other than that we're okay. They quoted about 2 days until power is back, so I'm back at my apartment in Lafayette, La where there is power.
 
Looks like Hanna lost her Hurricane status, for now... there are three tropical storms headed straight for Florida..

Hanna, Ike, Josephine

cute names :p
 
like many papers and news reports ,people
wondering if the gov,jumped the gun- evacuating so soon?

will anyone heed the next warning so fast?
what do you all think?
 
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