At the New Orleans Superdome, where supplies were initially limited, authorities welcomed 15,000 additional refugees on Monday before locking the doors. City leaders had no real plan for others. Tens of thousands of desperate people seeking food, water and shelter burst into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center complex, only to find chaos. During this time, it was almost impossible to leave New Orleans: the poor, in particular, without cars or anywhere to go, were stuck. Gov. Kathleen Blanco did not call in the National Guard for the next few days. Katrina struck large areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but the despair was most concentrated in New Orleans. Before the storm, the city's population was predominantly black (about 67%); in addition, almost 30 percent of its 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.