I don't buy this argument at all. There were several days notice of the impending storm....ample opportunity to evacuate. It is true that those that chose to wait until the last minute were caught in incredible traffic jams...but why wait until the last minute. We do not live in a welfare state in which the government takes care of someone from cradle to grave... thank God, although I am sure that there are some that wish that we were. Choices are left to the individual. Throwing up your hands in despair, and claiming that you have no money to escape is an invitation to disaster. It costs nothing to pack a bag and hitch hike if you have no other means of escape.
 
Several years ago I had a conversation with a former German soldier. He had served in the German army during the last days of WW 11. The army had crumbled. The Red Army was advancing into Berlin. The Defense of Germany rested with the Home Guard made up mostly of old men and kids. The soldier I had spoken to was sixteen at the time. He realized that the war was over, and that his country lost. He was stationed in Eastern Europe, and he knew that the Russian Army was taking no prisoners. He decided to surrender rather than be killed for a lost cause. He made up his mind that he was going to survive.  He knew he could not surrender to as Russian unit because he would have been shot. He wound up walking for hundreds of miles, dodging the Red Army until he could find a British or American unit to surrender to. The point is that you do not wait around for the government to bail you out. You do what is necessary to escape and survive. It is amazing of that which the human spirit is capable.

The City of New Orleans warned those citizens who chose to stay behind to get to an armory, shelter or the City's football stadium for safety. It is true that these structures did not withstand the storm as well as it had been hoped, but those inside are alive today. As was shown in Florida last year and in New Orleans this year, there are those that will not heed a warning. Aid is coming to the citizens of New Orleans. Even states as far away as Connecticut are dispatching electrical utility workers, food, medical supplies, etc. I do not think it was possible for the officials of either the City of New Orleans or the State of Louisiana to foresee the level of death and distruction from the storm. I think they did the best they could with the resouces available.