Gas prices are hitting new records every day: today's average in New Orleans is more than $4.50 a gallon according to the American Automobile Association's daily survey while one station in California hit nearly $10 a gallon.
Another AAA survey finds many residents in one hurricane-belt state are saying those high gas prices will make them think twice about evacuating even if ordered. Forty-two percent of Floridians surveyed said the high price of gasoline would have them considering shelter-in-place as an option, and one in four said they would ignore evacuation orders and stay put.
Michael Steele in the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness says he doesn't think Louisianans, after the past couple of years, have that short a memory.
"The fact that we've had several major storms over the past two years, people tend to take notice of those events more," he said. But he also said GOHSEP isn't blind to economic reality.
"We're telling our local emergency managers to make sure that they think about those kinds of things in their planning," said Steele. "We kind of lean on them on estimates on how many people they may think need support with evacuation orders or assistance with evacuations."
Steele says that means GOHSEP may help out with more transportation resources, or increased shelter space.
"So, again, before we're faced with a threat, now is the time to make those connections with your local emergency managers to make sure that they know you may need some type of assistance due to these factors," said Steele.