I think New Orleans may have learned it's lesson this time. BTW I don't blame our president, evacuation orders should have been handed down by the GOVERNOR to the mayors and carried out by them. I'm going to Biloxi, MS to help with clean up, I will let you know how things are down there. Biloxi was hit pretty hard too, it just didn't have the coverage that N.O. did. Looks like Galveston, TX will take a good portion of Rita.
Galveston, I believe still holds the US record for deadliest. I watched a good special on the History Channel about a Weather Service employee who refused to declare a hurricane approaching and 6000+ people died. If you are a history buff and love Galveston like I do (It's an awesome island off the coast of Texas) here is a link.
http://www.1900storm.com/