Louisiana hurricane evacuation money never spent on hurricane evacuation

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


In 1997, Congress ordered FEMA to develop a hurricane evacuation plan for New Orleans, but somehow, the money wound up in the coffers of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Commission. A report produced by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission turned out to be about the needs of the Causeway through the year 2016.

No one is able to say how or why the $500,000 allocation ended up with the Causeway Commission. In 1999, Congress directed FEMA to consult with the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, as well as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The federal Department of Homeland Security printed a million evacuation maps for the state, which were part of Louisiana’s successful contra-flow traffic plan during the Katrina evacuation.

The first phase of the Hurricane Pam tabletop project did not address all of the state’s evacuation needs. A spokesman for the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness has stated that he knows nothing about any FEMA funds allocated to the state prior to the Hurricane Pam project.

The 24-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the world’s longest bridge.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate