[speeder]

I don't think that it is worth arguing over exactly when "it" started/got worse/etc..., the bottom line is that the people in power should have seen this chaos coming in light of the types of people who did not leave N.O. (lots of criminals and lowlifes).

I also agree that there is absolutely no comparison w/ 9/11/01, really none. NYC was never abandoned by law enforcement, not for one minute. Life was strangely normal, (people going about their business at least), less than one mile from ground zero the next day.

N.O is a lot more like the '92 L.A. riots, if the city was underwater as well as burning. I was there for that one, when authority infrastructure collapses there is a class of people who will turn into animals regardless of the cause of said collapse. Simple as that, but someone should have seen this coming. It's not like N.O. is populated w/ Harvard professors.