Donna,
Thank your for this. It helps to understand why so many stayed by choice and so many had no choice. I had been comparing it to the tornados we occasionally get here. I usually ignore the warnings even though I have seen the devastation they can cause.

I agree the media tends to sensationalize. Maybe that was a good thing in this case as it seems to have motivated many to help. I do have some questions. Do you think it will take months before these people will be able to return to their homes? If it does, then we here in Texas are going to have a real problem on our hands. The evacuees we have here are safe, dry and well fed now but we don't want them to have to live under the conditions they are living now for months. They need better temporary housing where they can begin rebuilding their lives. Places where individual families can find privacy and security. I hope other states will help provide this type of shelter in the next few months. I believe this is what the evacuees will need soon.

I also wanted to know based on your experience if you believe any large city such as New Orleans could have been completely evacuated in time. I've worried about this often as my daughters live in large cities. They are not subject to hurricanes in San Francisco or Dallas but they are exposed to other natural and man-made disasters. It seems an impossible task to evacuate either of these places when it is difficult enough to avoid a severe traffic jam under normal conditions.