I refuse to defend the people that stayed at their own risk, and I am from New Orleans. However, the majority of the city was not what was portrayed on CNN. I evacuated like most did; however, I truly believed that the storm would just blow over. We all evacuated for Ivan the year prior only for it to hit P-cola. I know this sounds strange to people not from New Orleans, but during a busy hurricane season evacuations can be a dime a dozen and almost all are false alarms costing families that evacuate upwards of 500-1000 bucks each time for gas a lodging. Thats why people stay and take their chances; however, they do need to be prepared for the consequences.
As for the "welfare culture" comment. Yes there are many people sitting on their asses waiting for a handout, but there are also many areas that have rebuilt without the gov't. So yes I agree with the welfare culture issue but would appreciate it if you would not brand all of us New Orleanians in that manner.
Finally, I would like to put it out there that we don't tell people in California that their city should not be rebuilt because of earthquakes, and we don't tell victims of volcanos that their city will not be rebuilt so why do it to NO. If this country can send millions in aid to tsunami victims the least it can do is take care of its own.
AS FOR THE LAWSUIT ITS B.S. The Navy did not need to be there. They could have soley relied on FEMA(Thats a Joke). I personally thank all that participated in the SAR Rescues in NO.
