President Bush has also declared a state of emergency in all four states likely to be affected by the hurricane.
From Union Station, evacuees left on buses – most of which were headed to northern Louisiana – and also Amtrak trains, operated by FEMA – the last of which pulled out of the station late this afternoon heading for Memphis, Tenn. Thousands of others were flown out of the city on government-funded chartered planes.
Paul Finholt was hoping to catch the last train out of New Orleans – and, quite literally, his life depends on in.
"I have retina cancer," Finholt said. "And I have to have emergency surgery in Memphis."
"The chemotherapy didn't work and if I don't get the surgery the cancer could spread," said Finholt, who has been sick for two years.
Despite his situation, Finholt said he wasn't too worried.
"I'm very religious, so I count on God to get me through," he said.
To the side of the lines of evacuees ready to board buses, Talmadge Toney Jr. sat, waiting.
"I'm trying to figure out how to get out of here," Toney said. "During Katrina, my house in the Ninth Ward was 17 feet under water."
But like so many who have fled their homes this weekend, Toney says he'll come back.
"I'll come back – I was born and raised here," Toney said.
Authorities and volunteers seem so pleased with the way evacuation efforts went they've begun to prepare for the storm's potentially devastating aftermath.
In a press conference this morning, Nagin had harsh words for anyone thinking about looting after the storm.
"Looting will not be tolerated," Nagin said. "We have doubled our police force. We have doubled the National Guard Force we had for Katrina and looters will go directly to jail."
The days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina saw an onslaught of looters and crime, an aspect of the storm nobody wants to see happen again.
"I want to make sure that every looter understands that you will go directly to Angola Prison and god bless you when you go there," Nagin added.
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