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Stan Horwitz wrote:
> In article >,
> day wrote:
>
>
>>On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:34:35 GMT, "FDR"
> wrote:
>>
>>
>>><day > wrote in message
...
>>>
>>>>What should have happened :
>>>>
>>>>If they didn't want to get on a bus, their only other choice is to
>>>>possibly die. You can't save someone that refuses to get to safety.
>>>>
>>>>Authority to issue evacuations of elements of the population is vested
>>>>in the Mayor. By Executive Order, the chief elected official, the
>>>>Mayor of the City of New Orleans, has the authority to order the
>>>>evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.
>>>>Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the
>>>>Mayor of New Orleans in coordination with the Director of the Office
>>>>of Emergency Preparedness, and the OEP Shelter Coordinator.
>>>>
>>>>Use of buses is covered in the city plan and the state plan.
>>>>
>>>>I counted in the picture that is being passed around approx 135 school
>>>>buses alone that could be seen. If each was used to hold 30 people
>>>>that would have been 4,050 per trip that could have been moved . It is
>>>>estimated that NORTA(city buses) has 364 buses. If 60 crowed in during
>>>>the evac, 21,840 per trip could be moved. Together 25,890 people could
>>>>have evaced. Mayor Nagin said 80% of the city left when ordered. The
>>>>population census for 2000 says 484,674 people lived there, 387,740
>>>>evaced on there own. The buses could have taken the remaining 96,934
>>>>out in about 4 trips. Taking the people maybe 100 miles inland and
>>>>empty the city in around 12 hours.
>>>
>>>Taking them inland to what? Was there a place to shelter and house all
>>>these people? You're not going to drop them off in the middle of the path
>>>of a hurricane without protection. At least the Superdome gave shelter
>>>during the storm.
>>>
>>
>>I give up. You people bitch and whine that nothing was done. Then you
>>bitch and whine when something was done and the only thing you guys
>>can come up with is "leave them there". Jesuss they had 4 days
>>warning, somebody there couldn't pick-up a phone and find out where to
>>take them? They couldn't call an airport to use their hangers or
>>something? The Superdome was a "shelter of last resort".
>
>
> The problem was that FEMA failed in its mission to proactively deal with
> the problem. Go to FEMA's web site and read it mission statement. FEMA
> should have taken the lead in dealing with that disaster, as per its
> mission statement, yet it failed to do that. FEMA should have brought in
> federal resources BEFORE the hurricane arrived in Louisiana to help deal
> with the aftermath.

They should have, but Governor Blanco didn't want them there interfering
with the local kleptocracy. Bush had declared a state of emergency
already, mobilizing FEMA, but *I believe* he would have to invoke the
The Insurrection Act (Title 10 USC) to send them in over the protest of
the governor.

FEMA's ineptitude once they finally got there is a separate issue.

Best regards,
Bob