If I were mayor or governor in Hurricane alley...

[babaganoosh]

I'd tell people, "get out during this mandatory evacuation or sign this waiver stating that your forfeit all government benefits resulting from the loss of your home, property, belongings or life."

Basically and in a nutshell, if you don't leave when we tell you to with a cat. 5 on the way, you're S.O.L. when it comes to collecting benefits from the emergency aid and resettlement efforts.

Unless, of course there was some kind of hardship which prevented someone from leaving.

I expect some red for this. Oh, well. Whatever it takes to save lives...

[TheObiJuan]

We don't bull$hit here in Texas. When Rita came, the state government said they any families found staying behind would have their children removed and put into child protective services.

The retard governor and state government of Louisiana is making the federal gov. look worse, and yet it recieves no blame.

[srg]

Actually having proper levies (sp?) would help, they were only rated for a cat 3 storm in New Orleans. Some didn't even survive that due to poor construction (the blocks were AFAIK free standing and not interconnecting).

[Osiris-RA]

People may be idiots, but that doesn't mean they should be punished for it. Even an idiot deserves a turn of kindness.

...Unless they send all the National Gaurdsmen over to protect America from...over there.

[blingaway]

Unless, of course there was some kind of hardship which prevented someone from leaving.

Define hardship...very nebulous, and there are people who I'm sure would be able to leave and instead be a doofus and stay, and then try to manufacture "hardship" after the fact.

I agree, people who choose to stay should forfeit assistance, but it's little help to those who have no way and no where to go. I'd like to see a better system of mass evacuation. Turning all four lanes outbound is great...for people with cars. A plan that utilized every commercial carrier and every school bus would be nice, along with a pre-arranged destination for shelters. Take a neighborhood census and assign mass transport to every block that has folks needing a way out. Then anybody who chooses to refuse free transport out of the pending disaster can truly be left to swing.

Cost will always be a factor, but what did the rescue effort cost? A better plan for a mass evac would be a better use of those dollars.

Saying "well yer screwed if you stay!" doesn't really address the problem. I wish the city had a solid evac plan in place.