I'd like to add some things to what Armus said.
It was precisely because the officials were so emphatic on the television and radio, that we did evacuate. When the mayor called a mandatory evacuation of a city with a million people - a step that has never been taken in the history of New Orleans - I knew it was serious enough to leave. These hurricanes are no joke to New Orleans residents, and every person who went through Betsy or Camille still remembers them vividly. A resident of my apartment building, who had been a stranger until five minutes previously, offered us her credit card in case we needed money to evacuate. My phone was ringing off the hook with people checking up on me. Families and friends pulled together to look after each other and help each other evacuate. Pity even more, then, those who either a. couldn't leave, or b. didn't leave for a terrifying storm in order to stay with an aging or ailing relative, friend, or neighbour.
The traffic was horrible, leaving the city. My sister didn't evacuate for that precise reason, and she's lost her car, her job, her home, and possibly two of her cats. Those that were on the road, us included, were there for many hours of bumper-to-bumper madness. The air of fear was heavy and palpable. The point is - people were neither stupid nor ignorant. Those who stayed knew exactly what they were in for, and I can't imagine the terror that they must have felt. I was scared enough on the road, pondering what might happen to us if traffic didn't move faster, if we were still on the road when the storm moved in.
Second, we all knew that the levees were bunk and that the city was inadequately prepared. Officials were all about New Orleans when it involved getting cheap river shipping, attending Mardi Gras, or holding conventions, but far more tight-fisted when it came to reinforcing the bounds. The city paper ran a five-day series about the lack of preparedness, in 2002, called "Washing Away," detailing *exactly* what would happen if the levees had to withstand The Big One. You can read it here:
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/
And residents didn't choose to live in New Orleans because they were stupid or unknowing. They chose their city for the same reason that Californians put up with earthquakes, Midwesterners endure tornadoes, and people from New Jersey ignore the boredom and wretched accents: because it's home. And there are thousands of us now whose home is *gone*. Think about that, if you will - waking up tomorrow morning and realising that the place you grew up, the place you knew and took comfort in, where all of your friends are, where you know all of the hangouts, back roads, and local events - just washed away.
A final thought: I'm not saying those who shot at helicopters were right, but I think all of us would be shocked by our capabilities in a situation like that. What would you do to get your sick mother or dying child on a helicopter out? Who would you be willing to push, shove, hit, or even shoot to make sure that you and your own got out of a hellhole like that? Hell, we're Dark Jedi. We all know the shadow's there.
Arso, thank you for the thought in wanting to donate to the victims. I think there is enough help out there that DBers can choose to donate on their own without a club-wide effort, but still - a good thought nonetheless.
-Risua Cantor
aka Darkfire/Jiade'Xin
former New Orleanian...
lol
