Unlike in '05, New Orleans residents are packing their bags, leaving town IN '08, EASY OUT
BY TAMER EL-GHOBASHY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, August 31st 2008, 11:13 PM
A steady stream of cars heads north bound on Intersate 55 south of Jackson, Mississippi, aspart of the estimated 1.9 million residents who followed the mandatory evacuation order.
NEW ORLEANS - Even the most stubborn of the Big Easy's residents left behind the homes and traditions they cherish Sunday for the assured safety - and discomfort - of public shelters or far-away family.
"I'm not going through this again," said Claude Rollins, 47, as he packed his pickup truck in front of the Lower Ninth Ward home he was born into.
MCCAIN ORDERS REPUBLICAN CONVENTION CURTAILED FOR GUSTAV
"I don't want to hear people wailing 'Help me! Help me!' for days. I don't want to hear that again," said Rollins, who spent three days on his roof after Katrina struck three years ago.
What compelled many here to stick it out during Katrina - pride, tenacity, or the lack of help from authorities - is gone.
READ HELEN KENNEDY'S BLOG FROM NEW ORLEANS
The 2005 disaster is still raw in their minds.
Lessons have been learned.
LIVE: FOLLOW TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV'S PATH
Rollins stood at the corner of North Dorgenois and Charbonnet Sts., where his home was one of the few spared the wrath of Katrina.
His neighborhood is marked by large swaths of overgrown lawns and bare foundations where his neighbors' homes once stood.
Rollins decided to stay the last time in order to protect his home and everything in it from looters. This time, it's safety first.
"I sat there [on my roof] for days and nights thinking help would arrive at any minute," he said. "Then I gave up. I don't even want to feel myself let go again. It's hard to get over that."
Oneal Brock, 63, was another holdout in 2005, refusing to leave the home that's been in his family since 1957.
Sunday, his daughter picked him up and took him to Atlanta to ride out the storm.
He worked after Katrina to repair the damage from the storm and was one of the few to stay in the neighborhood.
Now, with the possibility of another deluge, Oneal, a retired dock worker, is not sure he could stand to rebuild.
"If it's like Katrina, I'm not coming back," he said. "I don't want to lose this house, but it'll take a whole generation to build this back up. I won't be around."
Even in the city's French Quarter, the bravado of the business owners and residents who stayed in the face of Katrina's misery was gone.
The narrow streets and famed balconies were empty.
Bars, restaurants and cabarets were boarded up. The last time, many stayed open.
For potential holdouts, there were few options.
City officials insisted there was no place safe in New Orleans and those who failed to comply with orders to evacuate should not expect "rescue or refuge."
The Superdome, used as a massive relief center in 2005, was padlocked and the once chaotic Convention Center, where a woman was left to die in a wheelchair, was now operating as an orderly base for the National Guard.
In recent days, an estimated 1.9 million people have been evacuated from the Louisiana coast for shelters as far away as Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Missouri.
"I never thought I'd be in this situation again," Tonya McBride, 37, said as she sat on a few pieces of luggage while she waited with her three kids for a bus out of town.
The last time, she spent several uneasy days in the Superdome after wading through filthy flood waters to get there.
"Thank God, I didn't have to swim here," she said. "I'm never making that mistake again."
"I'm not going through this again," said Claude Rollins, 47, as he packed his pickup truck in front of the Lower Ninth Ward home he was born into.
MCCAIN ORDERS REPUBLICAN CONVENTION CURTAILED FOR GUSTAV
"I don't want to hear people wailing 'Help me! Help me!' for days. I don't want to hear that again," said Rollins, who spent three days on his roof after Katrina struck three years ago.
What compelled many here to stick it out during Katrina - pride, tenacity, or the lack of help from authorities - is gone.
READ HELEN KENNEDY'S BLOG FROM NEW ORLEANS
The 2005 disaster is still raw in their minds.
Lessons have been learned.
LIVE: FOLLOW TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV'S PATH
Rollins stood at the corner of North Dorgenois and Charbonnet Sts., where his home was one of the few spared the wrath of Katrina.
His neighborhood is marked by large swaths of overgrown lawns and bare foundations where his neighbors' homes once stood.
Rollins decided to stay the last time in order to protect his home and everything in it from looters. This time, it's safety first.
"I sat there [on my roof] for days and nights thinking help would arrive at any minute," he said. "Then I gave up. I don't even want to feel myself let go again. It's hard to get over that."
Oneal Brock, 63, was another holdout in 2005, refusing to leave the home that's been in his family since 1957.
Sunday, his daughter picked him up and took him to Atlanta to ride out the storm.
He worked after Katrina to repair the damage from the storm and was one of the few to stay in the neighborhood.
Now, with the possibility of another deluge, Oneal, a retired dock worker, is not sure he could stand to rebuild.
"If it's like Katrina, I'm not coming back," he said. "I don't want to lose this house, but it'll take a whole generation to build this back up. I won't be around."
Even in the city's French Quarter, the bravado of the business owners and residents who stayed in the face of Katrina's misery was gone.
The narrow streets and famed balconies were empty.
Bars, restaurants and cabarets were boarded up. The last time, many stayed open.
For potential holdouts, there were few options.
City officials insisted there was no place safe in New Orleans and those who failed to comply with orders to evacuate should not expect "rescue or refuge."
The Superdome, used as a massive relief center in 2005, was padlocked and the once chaotic Convention Center, where a woman was left to die in a wheelchair, was now operating as an orderly base for the National Guard.
In recent days, an estimated 1.9 million people have been evacuated from the Louisiana coast for shelters as far away as Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Missouri.
"I never thought I'd be in this situation again," Tonya McBride, 37, said as she sat on a few pieces of luggage while she waited with her three kids for a bus out of town.
The last time, she spent several uneasy days in the Superdome after wading through filthy flood waters to get there.
"Thank God, I didn't have to swim here," she said. "I'm never making that mistake again."
thank:http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/09/01/2008-09-01_unlike_in_05_new_orleans_residents_are_p-1.html
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