Several emergency agencies across the city of New Orleans will conduct a drill of the city's evacuation preparations Wednesday morning.
Starting at 8 a.m., volunteers role-playing as evacuees will meet at the evacuation pick-up spot at the Central City Senior Center on Simon Bolivar Street. Those volunteers will be moved to Union Passenger Terminal downtown and then to Louis Armstrong International Airport to simulate air evacuations.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell will attend the drill Wednesday morning to thank the volunteers.
Cantrell has taken some criticism just 16 days into her young administration for saying New Orleans is “a city that floods” when speaking about last Friday’s flooding in parts of Mid-City and Treme.
Cantrell doubled-down on her flooding assertion at a news conference Tuesday at City Hall.
“I do not want to give a false narrative to our people, and that's why I'm really trying to be as intentional as possible, not giving excuses,” Cantrell said.