Evacuations and common sense

Alrighty, I'm already bracing for accusations of "you insensitive clod" and such, but when a city issues evacuation warnings for a hurricane, and the area is already declared a federal disaster area before the hurricane strikes, doesn't it seem like you should GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN? I know already that there were many poor in the urban wards of New Orleans who have said that they had no access to transportation. God bless and protect all who are so truly without resources that they had no way to escape, and nowhere to go. But one also hears reports of those who didn't really think that the hurricane would be that bad, or who just didn't want to go, and are now being rescued from rooptops. These rescues are costing the taxpayers millions of dollars and the time and resources of trained personnel who might otherwise be deployed to stabilizing the area and getting the disaster under what control they can

The city of New Orleans issued evacuation warnings in advance of the hurricane, and according to reports 80% of the city's population did evacuate beforehand. The Superdome was designated as a shelter, and many chose to stick out the storm there -- not in the most pleasant conditions (as was expected), but lives were saved. Here's what I want to know:
1) Was transportation, either out of the city or to the Superdome, provided from the poorest areas, to those who needed it most?
2) Since warnings were issued beforehand, where were activist groups before the hurricane struck urging people from their neighborhoods and supplementing city and state agencies? Isn't an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? Next time, instead of complaining about how the poor bear the brunt of these sorts of disasters, help get them out in time!

There have been discussions on The Corner and on Amy Welborn's blog about the proper response to looting. Of course there are those who cannot otherwise obtain food and water and diapers right now, and there is much food that will spoil if not eaten quickly. But TVs? Name-brand shoes by the boxful? That's greed, and it's criminal. The police forces in New Orleans are stretched to the limit and are working under difficult and dangerous situations as it is, and there are no facilities to hold looters right now. If someone doesn't respect an officer's order to "stop and drop it", what exactly ought the officer to do to keep law and order? Everyone knows theft is a crime (and ignornance of the law is no excuse, as they say). Darwin tells me that during the riots in Los Angeles in 1992 (I think that's the year) jails were filled to capacity, and so officers would just use plastic cuffs on looters and leave them face down on the ground until someone could come pick them up. But there's several feet of water in downtown New Orleans right now, so that doesn't exactly work. I think that the quickest solution to restoring order would be to first of all provide a quick evacuation solution to get people out of the downtown area, but also to warn looters once and then shoot to kill. Law and order must be maintained if the entire area is not to descend into civil chaos.

Just my thoughts, and I'd be interested to hear what you think.