Hurricane Katrina

====Louisiana====
{{See also|Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans}}
[[File:New Orleans Elevations.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Vertical cross-section of New Orleans, showing maximum levee height of {{convert|23|ft|m|0}}. Vertical scale exaggerated.]]
In Louisiana, the state's hurricane evacuation plan calls for local governments in areas along and near the coast to evacuate in three phases, starting with the immediate coast 50 hours before the start of tropical-storm-force winds. Persons in areas designated Phase II begin evacuating 40 hours before the onset of tropical storm winds and those in Phase III areas (including New Orleans) evacuate 30 hours before the start of such winds.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Louisiana Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness |title=Louisiana Citizen Awareness and Disaster Evacuation Guide |access-date=July 20, 2006 |url=http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/evacinfo/stateevacrtes.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714152101/http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/evacinfo/stateevacrtes.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2006}}</ref> Many private caregiving facilities that relied on bus companies and ambulance services for evacuation were unable to evacuate their charges because they waited too long.<ref name="providermag">{{cite web|last1=Connole|first1=Patrick|title=Long Term Care Providers Tackle Disaster Preparedness In A Post-Katrina World|magazine=Provider Magazine |date=February 1, 2011|url=https://www.providermagazine.com/Monthly-Issue/2011/Pages/0211/Disaster-Preparedness-In-A-Post-Katrina-World.aspx|access-date=October 11, 2020}}</ref> Louisiana's Emergency Operations Plan Supplement 1C (Part II, Section II, Paragraph D) calls for use of school and other public buses in evacuations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/blaw/DOD/manual/full%20text%20documents/State%20Authorities/La.%20EOP_Supplement1c.pdf|title=State Of Louisiana Emergency Operations Plan Supplement 1C|date=July 2000|access-date=May 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909235959/http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/blaw/DOD/manual/full%20text%20documents/State%20Authorities/La.%20EOP_Supplement1c.pdf|archive-date=September 9, 2006}}</ref> Although buses that later flooded were available to transport those dependent upon public transportation, not enough bus drivers were available to drive them as Governor Blanco did not sign an emergency waiver to allow any licensed driver to transport evacuees on school buses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vtpi.org/katrina.pdf|first=Todd|last=Litman|publisher=Victoria Transport Policy Institute|date=April 13, 2006|access-date=May 20, 2011|title=Lessons From Katrina and Rita: What Major Disasters Can Teach Transportation Planners|page=5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325121112/http://vtpi.org/katrina.pdf|archive-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref>

By August 26, many of the computer models had shifted the potential path of Katrina {{convert|150|mi|km}} westward from the Florida Panhandle, putting the city of New Orleans directly in the center of their track probabilities; the chances of a direct hit were forecast at 17%, with strike probability rising to 29% by August 28.<ref>[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblty.015.shtml "Hurricane Katrina Probabilities Report Number 15"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220192914/http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblty.015.shtml |date=February 20, 2006}} and [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblty.021.shtml Hurricane Katrina Probabilities "Report Number 21"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220192958/http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblty.021.shtml |date=February 20, 2006}} ''National Hurricane Center''. August 26, 2005. Retrieved on June 5, 2006.</ref> This scenario was considered a potential catastrophe because some parts of New Orleans and the metro area are below sea level. Since the storm surge produced by the hurricane's right-front quadrant (containing the strongest winds) was forecast to be {{convert|28|ft|m|1}}, while the levees offered protection to {{convert|23|ft|m|1}}, emergency management officials in New Orleans feared that the storm surge could go over the tops of levees protecting the city, causing major flooding.<ref>Drye, Willie. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050905140525/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0829_050829_hurricane.html "Hurricane Katrina Pulls Its Punches in New Orleans"].  ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]''. August 29, 2005. Retrieved on June 5, 2006.</ref>

At a news conference at 10 a.m. EDT on August 28, shortly after Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5 storm, New Orleans mayor [[Ray Nagin]] ordered the first-ever [[emergency evacuation|mandatory evacuation]] of the city, calling Katrina "a storm that most of us have long feared".<ref>Staff Writer. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/08/29/katrina-heads-for-new-orleans.html "Katrina Heads for New Orleans"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807213728/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/08/29/katrina-heads-for-new-orleans.html |date=August 7, 2015}} ''[[Fox News]]/[[Associated Press]]''. August 29, 2005. Retrieved on June 5, 2006.</ref> The city government also established several "refuges of last resort" for citizens who could not leave the city, including the massive [[Louisiana Superdome]], which sheltered approximately 26,000 people and provided them with food and water for several days as the storm came ashore.<ref>Staff Writer. [http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08_28.html#074657 "26,000 shelter at Superdome"]. {{webarchive|url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20051112032104/http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08_28.html |date=November 12, 2005}} ''Times-Picayune''. August 28, 2005. Retrieved on June 5, 2006.</ref><ref>''Diary From the Dome'' is a 2008 memoir written by a tourist who was stuck inside the Superdome during Katrina and the levee failures. It offers an overview of the conditions inside the stadium as well as a critique of the media's coverage of the disaster.</ref> Some estimates claimed that 80% of the 1.3 million residents of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area evacuated, leaving behind substantially fewer people than remained in the city during the [[Hurricane Ivan]] evacuation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/29/asb.01.html|title=Hurricane Katrina Pummels Three States|last=Brown|first=Aaron|date=August 29, 2005|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521230304/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/29/asb.01.html|archive-date=May 21, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>