A lot of heat has come down on the federal government, about not reacting in time to save the people who were socked by Hurricane Katrina.
However, what about the Mayor and the Governor?
Check out these pictures of buses that just sat there and are now under water and useless.
There were tourists who could not leave, because all the cars were rented. Why on Earth, didn't the mayor or for that matter any state officials use these since they had a mandatory evacuation?
It didn't help that almost no one batted and eye till the President finally told them to get the hell out of there.
There is no reason for these busses to have gone to waste.
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13 comments:
Keith, who is going to drive the buses? It is not like anybody was sticking around to drive them. And you cannot have just anybody drive them. And when exactly did the president tell people to get out? In fact, the mayor of New Orleans and the Governeor were begging people to leave. They had cops driving up and down the streets telling them to leave. Up until a couple of days ago bush was on his two month vacation. And besides what could they do activate the National Guard? Can't do that, they are in Iraq fighting in that bullshit war. Why did Bush wait so long to get his head out of his ass and come off vacation and actually start sending troops and aid down there? Why did the federal government ignore the Army Corps. of Engineers and cut the budget needed to reinforce the levees? Why can't Bush do anything right?
J
A plan could have been made for such a disaster, that everyone said was on the way anyway.
Most major cities have terrorist plans to help people now in post 9/11. They couldn't think outside the box on this one?
Perhaps the city could have had special divison of people trained for such stuff. Maybe even use some of the various Casino bus drivers, make it a law that they need to aid in such a disaster.
It would have helped the jobless issue in the area just a tad too.
Clearly, they needed to be more proactive with these issues, and it failed. What these people would do daily when Cat. 4 hurricanes aren't hitting their city, who knows? Maybe sweep up beeds or something left by hopeful dudes.
Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00
'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...
You cannot force people to drive the buses, if those people had a way out, I don't see anybody sticking around. Besides who is going to fund these jobs for something that may or may not happen? Certainly not the federal government, they wouldn't give the city money to fotify the levees.
J
Actually, there are people that even today are still refusing to leave. So, yes some people would have "stuck around". Even Fats Domino decided to "ride out the storm".
No way 100 percent of the people that stayed would have left.
Kayne West can say whatever he wants. He has his own webpage, and Im sure could get on any show and say his piece. Not a show designed to raise money.
You lay no blame on New Orleans?
It's right there plan. To use school buses, Volunteer agencies. Why did they put that in the plan if they CANT FORCE PEOPLE TO DRIVE BUSES.
Same reason the federal government struggled to get good results, because the plan was just obstract. Just bullet points on a paper, I doubt anyone knew their role the city of New Orleans evacuation plan.
The City essentially became an Ilsand of chaos, and even If John Kerry was in office I doubt things would have been much different.
Blame the state and local, not just Bush.
Of course mistakes were made at the local level, but it's exactly the role of the federal government generally and FEMA specifically to take the role of top down manager in a disaster like this. Local officials are bound to get drowned in the chaos because they're right in the middle of it, FEMA is supposed to be the one to sweep in and help settle things down.
It says that the buses MAY be used in the event of a hurricane, but like Jay said, you can't force these people to drive them. I don't know if I have my facts right here but I did hear that they tried to get funding to reinforce the levees but somehow it never came through. I am sure they had a disaster plan but with cops deserting and no federal help for 6 days, those plans probably didn't as they were supposed to.
Jenna thats a great point, but who cares Ben just commented on my blog.
Excuse my I have something in my eye.
I may just have to start transformer of the week if he keeps coming back.
Unfortunately Jenna, there was not updated plan on a local level to evacuate the people in the city who had no resources to get out on their own.
Last year, Hurricane Irvin was heading toward New Orleans, and there was no plan then. They were suppose to update the evacuation plans, but never got around to completing the plan.
If they had a real evacuation plan in place, it would already be step up for the city-employed drivers to drive the buses.
Come on, let us be real, city workers are city workers. The cops and firefighters had to stay and work, and the pension school bus drivers would have to report for duty IF there was a plan in place.
This was a horrible job on a Local, State, and then a Federal level.
The blame must start at the Mayor's office, not the President’s.
Why send people to the Superdome where you have no resources or security for them???
Then, let us not forget, the Superdome was called “the last resort”. Come on, a good portion of your city is living below poverty and you expect them to just pick up and travel out of state own their own?
This was a horrible job on all levels.
JUST ANOTHER INTERESTING TIDBIT OF INFO, APPARENTLY THERE WAS APPROX 50-60 TRUCKLOADS OF ICE AND WATER THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE ITS WAY TO THOSE WHO WERE STRANDED, HOWEVER FEMA REFUSED TO RELEASE THE TRUCKS FROM THE MILITARY BASE THAT THEY WERE AT DUE TO MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF RED TAPE.LETS NOT FOCUS ON THE MANDATORY EVACUATIONS PER SE (YOU WILL NEVER REMOVE 100% OF THE POPULATION)LETS FOCUS INSTEAD ON THE AMOUNT OF RED TAPE WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO TO PROVIDE RELIEF ONCE IT IS REQUIRED. IN THE INFANTRY BATTALION, WE ALWAYS HAD A UNIT READY TO DEPLOY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WITHIN 48 HOURS.WE CANNOT EVEN DEPLOY TROOPS IN OUR OWN HOMELAND IN UNDER 3-4 DAYS APPARENTLY.
BY THE WAY...IM FRIGGIN DRUNK
Good to hear your having fun Mike...in response to it being the fault of everyone, well ok I wouldn't place the blame on the city first. Mayor Nagin evacuated the city and they did have buses taking people out of the city. Maybe not all of the school buses in the posted picture, but there was an effort there. The problem is, in a disaster situation, the Federal Government has to order FEMA to go in and help. If the president had cancelled his vacation a little sooner than maybe that would have happened a little sooner. But el presidente is excellent at screwing things up. The war (which isn't over by the way...even though he says it is), every company he has had control of has been bankrupt, shall I go on?
Mike, why are you missing?
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