Preparations
The storm forced the evacuation of 8,000 workers from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico on July 10, as the hurricane strengthened and moved towards land. Thousands of natural gas and oil rigs exist in the Gulf, many of which were abandoned and shut down. Natural gas production was halted in some of the evacuations, causing problems for residents evacuating the Gulf Coast.
Pumps in New Orleans, Louisiana, a city below sea level, were prepared for heavy usage. Because the storm formed so quickly and very close to shore, workers had quickly put their hurricane evacuation plans into order. People were forced to be evacuated to higher ground immediately. Public schools were shut down and Charity Hospital's 150 outpatient clinics, which handles over 1400 patients, were canceled. Throughout a large stretch from New Iberia to the Louisiana border, evacuation orders were posted. Flash flood warnings were issued for southeastern Louisiana, in anticipation of significant flooding.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Bob (1979)
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete; being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and the spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)