Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
USA
MSA
Central City
Suburbs
Figure 9.9.
New Orleans MSA proportion of households
without an automobile, 2000
Even if it appears anecdotal, especially when compared with poverty indicators,
personal mobility (automobile ownership) proved to be a critical factor in
anticipating the threat of a natural disaster (see Figure 9.9). Indeed, the order for
mandatory evacuation, announced less than 48 hours before hurricane landfall, was
made without regard to citizens' means of transportation. Residents were urged to
“get out” by any means. Many of those who, because of poverty or old age, had no
means of transportation and depended on the goodwill of others were trapped in the
city when the storm arrived. According to the 2000 census, nearly 77,500
metropolitan households had no personal vehicle, of which more than 51,300
households were located in New Orleans' center city.
A second vulnerable group, senior citizens, would likely not own a motor vehicle
and depend on others for transport. One-quarter of US households report a head-of-
household aged 75 years or older. The percentage of senior households in New
Orleans' center city exceeded 33%.
It was therefore the older and poorer populations that were structurally
vulnerable. Given these demographic and social characteristics, it is quite amazing
to consider that evacuation by public transport was not anticipated, even though the
risks of flooding were well known and the disaster had been precisely modeled only
a year earlier. In June 2004, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
with the University of Louisiana and state and local authorities hosted an emergency
preparedness exercise code named Hurricane PAM. The results of the simulation
exercise, as well as notable failures only three months later, during the September
2004 real-life Hurricane Ivan evacuation, should have prepared local authorities for
the public transportation contingency.
