Patrick, we live in a country of complacency. It doesn't matter if you issue Hurricane Warnings and warn people door to door 5 days out some people are gonna stay regardless, some are reasonable, others are just downright ridiculous and pure stubbornness as to why they ride out storms. The NHC and the media have to find a way to work together to educate folks who are ignorant to how tropical cyclones work and that they're can be unusual circumstances to certain tropical cyclones in their strength/size. Personally I think they need to get rid of the Saffir-Simpson scale and make up a scale that mainly focuses on storm surge/flooding. I don't know exactly how it should be done, but there needs to be more emphasis on those two things rather than wind.
In a way, Louisiana got spared FAR WORSE than what could have came to futon. Had those flight level winds over 110kts had of completely made it down to the surface before Isaac made landfall, there's not doubt Isaac would have been a major hurricane (Cat 3./weak Cat 4.). It's large size and the fact that it had started running out of time over water kept that from happening. Last night, I heard the Plaquemines Parish President say this about Isaac.
"No one is convincing me this was a Category 1. The damage I am seeing today is worse than Katrina". Technically he's half right because of the low barometric pressure being more eqivalent of a Cat. 3 ., but that statement from him should be a wake up call to how a large Cat 1. hurricane can cause as much if not even more havoc as a small/medium sized Cat 3. or higher. Prior to that when he was being interviewed by Crystal Egger/Chris Warren, he mentioned that the water was only about 2 feet from overflowing the levees there and yet he actually believed they would be ok and it would recede because of low tide...Seriously?
When Mike Seidel was covering Isaac in Cuba he mentioned how in their government, if they told you to evacuate there was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You were FORCED to leave on your own or they would bring a bus to pick you up and take you to safer ground because they want to limit the amount of deaths to near 0 as they can possibly do. Here, you either leave or the hell with you which is sad, it should be mandatory in a mandatory evacuation that people like the elderly for example should be provided transportation so they can leave.
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