Editorial: The plan for the next hurricane

Thursday, May 4, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin this week announced his evacuation plan for the next big hurricane and, laudably, it relies on the fast evacuation of residents on buses and trains.

Interestingly, however, the plan does not include an emergency shelter of "last resort" where individuals who can't make it to a bus or train in time can ride out the storm. Memories are fresh of the deplorable conditions at the Superdome and the Convention Center during Hurricane Katrina, so it's easy to see why Nagin, facing a re-election battle, does not want to advocate an option that people associate with squalor, lawlessness and desperation.

Perhaps he aims to scare every last resident into using transports out of the city by telling them there will be no place to seek shelter, yet it is not clear Nagin's plan will work perfectly. Nagin said the Convention Center would be a staging area for evacuations, not a shelter, but it may become a shelter if the storm offers little warning.

It was not the shelters themselves that were the problem during Katrina, but the fact that they lacked leadership, policing, staffing and supplies. Proper precautions and planning for a hurricane should include an emergency shelter, which could be just as important in saving lives as buses and trains.