Evacuation Blues

New Orleans lives in fear of hurricanes. From June to November the hurricane season thunders across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The peak months of August and September are certain to produce at least one scare.

Technology has given us the ability to see the storms far into the Atlantic and to spot them within hours of their formation wherever that might be. Technology also lets us project alternative paths that a storm might take. This crystal ball lets us look two, three, even as many as six days into the future.

The result is that modern storms rarely result in mass fatalities. Most people have the sense to move out of the way. They seek high ground and sturdy shelter. The affluent move far enough to avoid the discomfort of power outages and service disruptions. Hurricanes, no matter how fierce, have become an inconvenience and a financial risk rather than "life and death."