RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How did they prepare? { o,o}
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In the Caribbean, 500,000 Jamaicans were told to evacuate from coastal areas,^[14] but only 5,000 were reported to have moved to shelters.^[15] Many schools and businesses were closed in the Netherlands Antilles,^[16] and about 300 people evacuated their homes on Curaçao.^[17] 12,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from Isla Mujeres off the Yucatán Peninsula.^[18] In Mississippi, evacuation of mobile homes and vulnerable areas took place in Hancock, Jackson, and Harrison counties. In Alabama, evacuation in the areas of Mobile and Baldwin counties south of Interstate 10 was ordered, including a third of the incorporated territory of the City of Mobile, as well as several of its suburbs. In Florida, a full evacuation of the Florida Keys began at 7:00 a.m. EDT September 10 but was lifted at 5:00 a.m. EDT September 13 as Ivan tracked further west than originally predicted. Voluntary evacuations were declared in ten counties along the Florida Panhandle, with strong emphasis in the immediate western counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa. Ivan prompted the evacuation of 270 animals at "The Little Zoo That Could" in Alabama. The evacuation had to be completed within a couple of hours, with only 28 volunteers available to move the animals. In Louisiana, mandatory evacuations of vulnerable areas in Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, and Tangipahoa parishes took place, with voluntary evacuations ordered in six other parishes. More than one-third of the population of Greater New Orleans evacuated voluntarily, including more than half of the residents of New Orleans itself. At the height of the evacuation, intense traffic congestion on local highways caused delays of up to 12 hours. About a thousand special-needs patients were housed at the Louisiana Superdome during the storm. Ivan was considered a particular threat to the New Orleans area because dangers of catastrophic flooding. However, Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes suffered a moderate amount of wind damage. Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans was judged poor.^[19] At one point, the media sparked fears of an "Atlantean" catastrophe if the hurricane were to make a direct strike on the city.^[20] These fears were not realized, as the storm's path turned further east. The publicity generated may have contributed to the somewhat more effective evacuation of the city in preparation for Hurricane Katrina a year later, however.