Should New Orleans residents hit the road for good?
8:55 p.m. Tuesday, September 2, 2008
It's been like a weekend of deja-vu for many Americans. Evacuations, a major hurricane and questions of whether levees will hold all resemble images of Hurricane Katrina.
Almost three years to the day, another major hurricane threatened to destroy the city of New Orleans, and with the memory of Katrina still fresh in their minds, some Kansans say those in the Big Easy should ease on down the road for good.
Natural Disaster Risk
In a 2006 study, New Orleans was ranked second to last on a list of 50 cities least likely to experience a natural disaster. Find out which cities are safer and one that is more likely than the Big Easy to experience a natural disaster.
But Kansans know all too well the fury of Mother Nature.
"Tornadoes, floods, wind storms, ice storms," said Kansas Emergency Management Deputy Director Bill Chonyak, speaking of disasters in Kansas. "We've had four major storms in the last 18 months."
With tragedies like Greensburg, Chapman and the December ice storm, which is the most expensive in state history, some wonder whether Kansans should tell other folks their hometown is too dangerous?
"There's a lot of good things down there for the people, and that's where their home is," Topekan Cindy Christensen said. "I mean, that would be like all of us packing up and moving out of Topeka."
Still, others say that it's not so much where you live, but how you prepare for what nature tends to throw at your state.
"Kansas, being the state that it is, is always prepared for any major storms," Chonyak Said.
It is that preparation that Topekan Jacob Rosen says needs to be integrated into New Orleans.
"I think there is a lot of heritage and a lot of great people that have done a lot of great things in New Orleans," Rosen said, "But I just think they need to use a lot of caution and re-build it the right way and make sure the people there are safe."
And if there is one thing Gustav has taught New Orleans and the rest of the country, it is that New Orleans residents are becoming better prepared for their common disasters.
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