New Orleans Preps for the Storm Next Time

Though it was fictitious, "Hurricane Alicia" offered state and federal officials gathered here on Tuesday an opportunity to test new plans for evacuating and sheltering thousands of people fleeing a major Gulf storm. Officials hope the blueprint, which was put into practice in a statewide drill, will eliminate at least some of the bedlam that the region endured during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, which killed more than 1,200 Louisiana residents.

from the NY Times


The scene was hauntingly familiar: A hurricane barreling through the Gulf of Mexico, gathering strength, its eye trained on New Orleans. Anxious politicians urging citizens to evacuate. Assurances that federal help was on the way. But this time it was only a drill -- the first of a two-day dress rehearsal, dubbed "Hurricane Alicia," for state and local authorities gearing up for the first post-Katrina hurricane season. Even before the exercise got under way Tuesday morning, however, Gov. Kathleen Blanco pronounced the state's preparations a success.

from the Times Picayune