At the Superdome in New Orleans, where supplies were initially limited, officials welcomed 15,000 more storm refugees Monday before closing the doors. City leaders had no real plan for anyone else. Tens of thousands of people desperate for food, water and shelter broke into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center complex, but found nothing but chaos. Meanwhile, it was almost impossible to leave New Orleans: especially the poor, without cars or anywhere else to go, were stranded. Gov. Kathleen Blanco did not call out the National Guard for days to come. Katrina hit large areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but the desperation was concentrated above all in New Orleans. Before the storm, the city's population was predominantly black (about 67%); furthermore, almost 30% of the population lived in poverty. Katrina exacerbated these conditions and left many of New Orleans' poorest citizens even more vulnerable than they were before the crisis.