Very disturbing news from New Orleans this morning. Local officials have made the decision not to order a mandatory evacuation. Contraflow, the reversal of interstate highways, takes time and they simply don’t have time to make it work.
IDA’s expected intensity changed rapidly Thursday night. We went from an expected CAT 1 to CAT 4 in just a few hours. That changed everything for Louisiana leaving them with no time to impose mandatory evacuations. The fear is that some residents will not evacuate because of the message this sends.
If you know anyone who lives in central or southern Louisiana, call them and encourage them to leave now! Tomorrow morning may be too late and they could become stranded on the congested highways.
IDA will make landfall on the 16 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina! The devastation from Katrina is still very much alive in the minds of many. The flood protection system around the city of New Orleans failed and the resulting death toll, destruction and human suffering was unlike anything this country has ever seen. 1800 people died as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The levees have been reconstructed since 2006 but I’m not sure anything can protect New Orleans from 15”-20” of rain and winds of 100+ mph.
GET OUT!
