When has a major American City been evacuated before?

[El Supremo]

Help me with history.

1812 - Washington evacuated before the British troops burned it.
1906 - San Francisco emptied out when it burned to the ground after the earthquake.

Other?

edited to add "major"

[ContraBass Black]

1. 9/11

D.C. was cleared.

[xultar]

3. Nope. I was there. We stayed in the office until 3 or 4. Then

Took the metro to Foggy and walked to my hotel.

[ContraBass Black]

20. Hmm

I seem to remember news reporters breathlessly exclaiming that the entire city was cleared.

[Selatius]

7. No, all of DC wasn't evacuated, just the government buildings

[Bobbie47]

2. 93 flood in Illinois and Missouri

towns were later moved.

[mduffy31]

4. Grand Forks, ND

Floods in '97 I was with the Red Cross, we evacuated the whole town to the Grand Forks AFB that is about 16 miles out of town.

[markus]

21. But that was nothing near this scale

[Amonester]

5. 2001 - New York City (partial)

Criminal negligence? LIHOP? MIHOP? (pick one) :grr:

[karynnj]

19. most residencal areas were declared safe.

Only a small percent were evacuated. People stayed in building that wer as clos e as 10 blocks or so.

[Obamarama]

6. I have no idea. But they just evacuated 790,000 in CHINA this week...

Massive 155 mile wide typhoon headed for the Chinese coast. News reports are 3 dead, dozen injured.

Even CHINA can take care of their own citizens.

[valerief]

8. Every year in Florida, I think

For hurricanes.

[Jawja]

10. As was Savannah

several years ago - DAYS before a hurricane bypassed them.

I had family that evacuated. Georgia has set up a system to close down one side of I-16 out of Savannah in order to leave 4 lanes open for evacuation.

Don't remember the name of the hurricane; but close relatives evacated days before in an orderly system out of Savannah.

[valerief]

12. Bingo. Evacuation is not new.

It's done all the time. In white communities, anyway.

[DawgHouse]

14. I think that may have been Bertha in 1996 NT

[Metta]

9. How many native American communities have made the walk?

nt

[Garbo 2004]

11. SF wasn't completely evacuated or destroyed . I lived for a time in

a building on California street that survived the quake.

[JohnnyBoots]

13. NO in the Civil War I think.

[El Supremo]

17. No, just the Confederate Army.

And some citizens. But the majority stayed and emptied chamber pots on the Yankees.

[newswolf56]

15. Vicksburg, Atlanta and Richmond in the Civil War:

Vicksburg was largely destroyed by siege artillery (the civilian population sought safety in caves under the river bluffs). Atlanta as I remember was destroyed by a combination of artillery and fires started by the shelling, and Richmond -- the Confederate capital -- was methodically burned to the ground. I have seen no photographs of Vicksburg but as a child knew a very old woman who was said to have lived through the siege; Atlanta and Richmond -- both extensively photographed -- looked like Berlin in 1945. Supposedly the people of these cities dispersed into the countryside, but beyond that I know little: the history of a war is written by its victors, and the victors seldom pay much attention to civilians the fighting has reduced to displaced persons.


Edit: typo.

[GarySeven]

16. Atlanta's evacuation was ordered by Sherman

at the time it was considered a war crime, but was eventually sanctioned by the army and the Lincoln government.

Interesting exchange of letters between Gen. Sherman and Gen. Hood is found here: http://www.civilwarhome.com/atlantaevacuation.htm

[newswolf56]

18. Thank you for posting this.