Katrina was a monster hurricane. But evacuation procedures tend to be put in motion rather late; in this case, the evacuation was called only 30 hours before the gale force winds kicked into the Gulf. New Orleans was used to evacuating since storms blew people out of town for a couple of days every few years. So its storm-jaded residents weren't particularly in a hurry to get out. Most of them were in a wait-and-see mood, not sure how seriously to take the forecast.

By August 26th, local weathercasters were using foreboding terms, like "potential cataclysm" – so this seasonal storm finally started being taken a little more seriously by the Big Easy, and many people began leaving... or making plans to leave.

Even though a hurricane as big as the Gulf of Mexico was bearing down on them, many people in New Orleans chose to stay in their homes, hunker down and ride it out. Stories circulated that even at gunpoint by the National Guard, some people were saying, “You’ll have to shoot me to get me out of here.”

So people put off evacuating. Then there was a last minute scramble to get out of town – by thousands of people all at the same time.

Bottom line: it's no fun to evacuate.

Next page: Checklist Before Leaving