What was Michael Chertoff talking about when he said 1.5 people died?

September 11, 2008 6:37 PM

What was Michael Chertoff talking about when he said 1.5 people died?

Half-listening to the news in a store lobby, I heard this story playing on CNN and heard several of the quoted remarks.


I also heard someone, who I thought was Michael Chertoff, talking about 1.5 million people who died as the result of something - the quote went along the lines of "1.5 people died - not 1.5 people hurt, or 1.5 people relocated, but 1.5 people dead - excuse me, 1.5 million." - The misreading of 1.5 million as 1.5 was what stuck it in my mind.

What was he talking about? I can't find it. I thought he was talking about Hurricane Ike but it hasn't hit - and the stats I find online for Katrina are nowhere near that.

If it wasn't him talking, what was this about? I mistakenly told my mother he was talking about Ike in Houston and was quickly corrected by my husband...I know I didn't imagine that number.

Where did 1.5 million people die?

posted by jesirose to grab bag (8 comments total)

I don't think this was past tense. It was talking about an estimate of what could happen if people weren't evacuated. I don't remember any more details than that.
posted by odinsdream at 6:43 PM on September 11, 2008

An estimate based on computer modeling of the storm vs. populated areas.

I heard it on a brief NPR news recap thing, and they omitted the 'excuse me, 1.5 million' part, which was weird.
posted by tremspeed at 6:47 PM on September 11, 2008

I heard it live on NPR, he was talking about possible consequences of people not evacuating the gulf coast for Hurricane Ike.
He meant to say 1.5 million, but after saying that once, he said 1.5 and omitted the million.
posted by arcticseal at 8:05 PM on September 11, 2008

Wtf?

Thanks to the people who explained it...I'm trying to find more info on it. I live in DFW so I'm a bit worried about it coming up here.
posted by jesirose at 8:40 PM on September 11, 2008

I heard it live on NPR, he was talking about possible consequences of people not evacuating the gulf coast for Hurricane Ike.

He was referring to what Texas Governor Rick Perry described as his worst nightmare: that a cat 5 hurricane take a direct hit on the Houston ship channel without anyone evacuating, which would result in the death of 1.5 million Texans.
posted by jschu at 8:43 PM on September 11, 2008

I live in DFW so I'm a bit worried about it coming up here.

I don't think you need to worry too much. It's projected to veer eastward, and Dallas will be on the drier, less windy side of Ike once it gets up there. Plus, that 1.5 million quote is a pretty damn extreme scenario, even on the coast.
posted by jschu at 8:48 PM on September 11, 2008

We evacuated from Houston. We're in Lewisville right now. (N of Dallas.) The metroplex is likely to be quite fine.
posted by tcv at 9:13 PM on September 11, 2008

Although tornadoes are not out of the question in DFW, I suspect.
posted by davidmsc at 10:37 PM on September 11, 2008