Bush Urges People to Flee Hurricane

sends the wrong message.

meanwhile, every official races to declare, and then take ownership of, a public crisis.

it means money.

to the extent the rhetoric works, it holds news readers too.

a symbiosis.

until the storm fails to strike, then it's forgotten and another crisis is found.

"It's a very dangerous situation at this point," FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said. "We're ready and awaiting landfall."

The American Red Cross was mobilizing volunteers from across the country for what one official called its largest response to a single disaster in many years.

"This is really an all-hands-on-deck scenario for the Red Cross right now," spokeswoman Carrie Martin said.