What happens the next time a Cat 4 /5 hurricane is headed for a large city?

[NNN0LHI]

I mean everyone is going to go completely ape shit. I can see the local, state, and federal government evacuating people at gun point if need be. They are not going to allow themselves to get caught with their pants down for a good long while. Its going to take a long time before they become complacent about hurricanes again. Get ready for the new war. Goodbye "War On Terra". Hello "War On Hurricanes".

Don

[valerief]

1. I think they'll only let wealthy people with private helopads or

airports own land on the coast.

[efhmc]

2. Are they rich, white people? Therin lies your answer.

[LisaL]

3. I am afraid we will find out sooner than we think.

It's going to be a bumpy ride.

[graywarrior]

4. I live on the border of Sarasota and Bradenton

They will send UFO's to pick up all the rich white people of Sarasota. All the Bradenton folk will have to take buses, which will not be available.

[ForrestGump]

5. The answer's in the DPR

Dark/Democratic People Ratio

[justiceischeap]

6. Better yet, a more frightening question

If this is how they handle a natural disaster, how will Homeland Security, who is in charge of FEMA, handle a terrorist attack? Seems they won't and what's even more frightening is that the terrorists groups are seeing all this administration's ineptitude live on CNN, MSNBC and FAUX.

[Tyranny_R_US]

7. Everyone will run like hell....

or stock up on survival gear, everyone knows now that they can't rely on the government,salvation army or red cross they are true-ly on their own.

[Joebert]

8. No matter where it is, they'll do it, and do it quick

They will take authority immediately so they can still blame this one on the locals.

They'll make a huge move, they'll make stuff happen. All to show how when the feds are in charge, they can get it done. Stupid locals, we'll show them.

This way, when 2006-2008 roll around, nobody can say anything because THEY fixed it.

Watch and see.

[NNN0LHI]

11. A certain percentage of the people will not leave under any circumstances

That could cause problems.

Don

[FormerRepublican]

9. If only they'd declare a war on incompetence and stupidity, they might

actually make a difference. And impeach Bush as a first step toward improvement.

[Pobeka]

10. It will be mass panic. Many will die in the chaos to get out.

Now that everyone knows the government will not be there to help, it will be everyone for themselves, and there will be a stampede to get out.

Not unlike what happened in Bagdhad last week where nearly a 1000 died.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/08/31/iraq.main/

... but unlike Iraq, we'll have people with vehicles who will ram their way through any traffic that is smaller than them.

After all the selfish people get through with the above scenario, the poor people will be coming out, helping each other because they know how to cooperate with each other for the greater good.

[pitohui]

12. mandatory evacs won't be at gunpoint every time there's a storm

they won't evacuate ppl at gunpoint, even when mandatory evac is declared, because there isn't enough transport for everyone

also there is no practical safe place to house the arrestees, where are you going to put 1,000 old ladies who won't leave their cat, and 50,000 others who simply have no means to leave town, that's right, you are not going to point a gun at them after all, are you

if everyone did evac, the roads would be clogged, and there would be much loss of life to exposure when vehicles ended up trapped unmoving on the road

this is only the first time contraflow worked as well as it did to get ppl out of the area

even as recently as dennis, aaron broussard evacuated jeff parish out of turn, if the storm had hit, ppl in low-lying parishes would have been trapped on the highways & killed where they sat

[bushisanidiot]

13. We pull AWOL Bush out from under his desk by his hair and tell him

to do his damn job.

people were too nice to him this time around and thousands died..

if this happens again, there should be riots in the streets until he gets up off his ass and does what he was sworn to do.

[markus]

14. Did you see war of the worlds?

My 10 year old asked me in NOLA was like the ferry scene. I told him that in some places is was just like that.

You won't have to wait. People will be shooting each other for food and water and for cars and gasoline.

[wli]

15. I foresee the opposite, esp. given the Superdome imprisonment

i.e. everyone will be in a mass panic to flee the area before they're imprisoned with no sustenance or sanitation provided, and the feds will be stopping people at gunpoint and gunning down those defying their orders to stop trying to leave the area... in the midst of the storm.