A report card after Gustav

Hurricane Gustav proved that “experience really is the best teacher,” said The Denver Post in an editorial. Everybody shared the blame for the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago, but this time around, state, local, and federal officials all did a “far better” job preparing for the storm.

Our leaders meant well, said James O’Byrne in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, but they may regret their decision to “panic people into leaving,” then blocking them from returning to their untouched homes. Now a “hurricane-weary citizenry” will be more reluctant to leave when the next storm comes.

Gulf Coast residents should be thankful that their leaders took the “deadly lesson” of Katrina to heart, said the Springfield, Mass., Republican in an editorial. If Gustav had turned out to be the next Big One, the near seamless evacuation would have surely saved lives.

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