NEW ORLEANS -- The city of New Orleans will offer no shelter in the event of a category three or higher hurricane, according to New Orleans Department of Homeland Security Director Jerry Sneed. Sneed told the City Council that New Orleanians should take no chances during a mandatory evacuation.
He said if a category three or higher storm approaches, Mayor Ray Nagin will call for a mandatory evacuation and residents should prepare in advance.
He said anyone who might need help evacuating should call 311, the city’s information hotline.
Seventeen pick-up locations will be setup around the city where evacuees can board buses, but instead of two processing centers, there will be only one: at the Union Passenger Terminal.
Sneed said the city is prepared for hurricane season, but he also said the readiness is a matter of personal responsibility.
If a hurricane is coming, the city will open some sort of shelter somewhere, the posturing and tough talk from officials notwithstanding. But at this point, it's important to keep up appearances... you know unless any of us irresponsible rubes get to feeling too comfortable to run from a massive flood.
It's a sad state of affairs that the governmental agencies who failed so spectacularly at disaster management last time see their failure not as an indication that they need to improve their performance but instead continue to work primarily at shielding themselves from blame.
It doesn't matter whether or not one believes that preparing a metropolitan region for a large scale disaster is primarily a matter of "personal responsibility" We are all "personally" responsible for our persons to some degree. But the city and the good people at Homeland Security have responsibilities that go beyond scolding people. The fact that a spokesperson for these institutions has to remind us of our "personal responsibility" indicates that they are already acting in bad faith. The advice to call 311 for help is merely rubbing it in.
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