re: What's the truth on Katrina/Blackwater, etc.

Really. Thousands stayed behind for that reason. The shelters were not equipped to accomidate birds, housecats, dogs, ect so they would not allow people to bring their pets with them to safety. The buses refused to allow the non-human passengers onboard (except for service dogs), so many of those who couldn't drive themselves out that didn't want to abandon their precious pets stayed behind to ride it out with them. That decision likely resulted directly in hundreds of deaths.

To prevent this from happening in the future, starting with Gustav, evacuation buses allowed evacuees to bring their pets and disaster shelters partnered with animal shelters to care for those pets so people would no longer stay behind to avoid abandoning their pets to near certain death. They also instituted this system of statues around the city. All one must do to evacuate is walk to one of those statues during an evacuation and busses will arrive at those statues to take them to safety.

We learned from many of Katrina's mistakes, but had we already known, many lives may have been spared.