I have been saying here that no major city can rely on private cars for evacuation in an emergency, and that the mayor of New Orleans ought to have commandeered NOLA's own buses to take out evacuees. Thanks to Junkyard Blog for pictures of the NOLA buses galore that were available. Incriminatingly, the state's evacuation plan, which the mayor ignored, even called for using those buses. And most incriminatingly, President Bush had appealed for mandatory evacuation. Here is just one image of one set of city buses.
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Junkyard Blog quotes the southeast Louisiana evacuation plan supplement, most recently revised in 2000. Go to page 13, paragraph 5, says Junkyard Blog:
5. 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.
This sure looks like a smoking gun to me.
On August 28, the mayor ordered what he called a mandatory evacuation, according to an AP report on the website of the Times-Picayune. The AP report contains another smoking gun, namely, the following extraordinary indications that the mayor was not in fact serious about evacuating the city:
Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.
The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.
So the evacuation was mandatory, except for those who had no way to leave, and for those in hotel rooms. How mandatory is that? And what about those buses and other "government-owned vehicles" that the evacuation plan said the mayor should have used?
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Article comments
1 - Natalie Davis
As I have said all along, there is plenty of blame to apportion. Mayor Nagin certainly has earned his share.
2 - Silas Kain
I agree Mayor Nagin has earned his share. But I predict that Mayor Nagin, a black Democrat and Governor Blanco, a female Democrat will end up being the targets of the right as we explore what went wrong. We're already hearing Conservative pundits make fun of Blanco and her gender. Nagin's an easy target because, after all, he's black. If NOLA had been governed by an Hispanic mayor I'd bet dollars to donuts that things would have been different. This Administration has an affection for the Hispanic community unlike any other. Now don't go and blow up what I just said into another debate about minorities. It just seems to me that Conservatives are pandering to the Latin community because they recognize it's growing influence. It's almost as if the Black community has been left behind once again. So, to me, it comes down to shaking things up in this nation. We're a bunch of racist pigs, we just won't admit it publicly. The rest of the globe is looking at us in wonder and disbelief these last few days. So am I.
3 - Wim (Netherlands)
Ehhm, not to dampen your enthousiasm but you've based your "smoking gun" on the ‘Southeast Louisiana evacuation plan supplement’ of 2000. Have you read the evacuation plans for New Orleans (which were revised after Hurrican Ivan and problaby the simulation known as ‘Hurricane Pam’ conducted by FEMA amongs others)?
Those plans recognised the special circumstances in New Orleans: +100.000 citizens and tourists without transport, congestion of evacuation-routes, etc. etc. It became apparent that it would be impossible to evacuate every individual in such a short timespan. It would create the possibility that a great deal of the population would be ‘on the road’ the moment the hurricane struck the region.
Therefore these "refuges of last resort" like the Superdome, they have saved thousands of lives. Buses were used to transport people to these refuges.
When the promised ‘cavallery’ had arrived in time, more could have been saved.
4 - Drew
Excuses, excuses. I sincerely doubt that Bush told Blanco to do anything she hadn't already planned to do, and I also doubt that, with the storm approaching the city, the best option was to put people in school buses and put them on unprotected highways - and the Red Cross agrees: "The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives."
The context you've provided for the photo is little more than a lie.
5 - Margaret Romao Toigo
The above article reads like a PR damage control memo.
But the media -- even Fox News -- isn't playing along this time.
6 - Silas Kain
OK, is it me? G.W. Bush is making all these photo op appearances in the ravaged Gulf. Is he hindering the efforts by grinding everything to a halt by coming in to town? Is he in panic mode realizing that his standing in the polls is steadily dropping? What on earth does he think he can accomplish by making all these visits? Does anyone honestly believe that his presence makes a difference? Is anyone rising from the dead thanks to his miraculous touch? Does the recruiting of James Lee Witt (FEMA Director under Bill Clinton) just emphasize the total inadequacy of the Bush version of FEMA? OK, maybe now is not the time to get into the debate. My suggestion is to take some notes, America. If the Federal Government tries to steamroll all the blame onto the State and Local Governments there will be a backlash so great that it will reach into the Presidential Election of 2008.
7 - John Bambenek
Bush needs to get down there and do something!
Bush needs to stop coming down and interrupting things!
Which is it?
Also,
http://jcb.pentex-net.com/archives/2005/09/hurricane_katri_6.html
8 - Margaret Romao Toigo
No, Mr. Bambenek, Mr. Bush doesn't need to actually go there, he just needed to do something much sooner than he did -- besides the PR damage control efforts, which hardly anyone is buying this time 'round.
Face it, the feds screwed that old proverbial pooch on this one, even if the state and local officials share some of the responsibility.
It's okay to admit to mistakes -- really, it is -- because that is the first step toward learning from them.
Pride is nothing but a tough facade, but sincere humility is a demonstration of true fortitude.
9 - Anthony Grande
Bush did go down there and he did everthing he could before and after the hurricane happened.
What exactly to you guys want him to do???
10 - Friend in Panama
Here are some numbers from an LSU civil engineer:
"Planning ... was stymied by a shortage of buses, he said. As many as 2,000 buses, far more than New Orleans possessed, would be needed to evacuate an estimated 100,000 elderly and disabled people."
[Search journalnow.com for the quote.]
The buses were used instead to transport people to what was believed to be a temporary safe shelter, the Superdome. And it WAS safe, temporarily.
11 - Friend in Panama
PS. Actual numbers from Louisiana government web sites: New Orleans has 364 public transportation buses and 324 school buses.
12 - RJ
"OK, is it me? G.W. Bush is making all these photo op appearances in the ravaged Gulf. Is he hindering the efforts by grinding everything to a halt by coming in to town? Is he in panic mode realizing that his standing in the polls is steadily dropping? What on earth does he think he can accomplish by making all these visits?"
Well, if he WASN'T going there and hugging people, you Leftists would be calling him a heartless bastard.
He just can't win with you people, can he?
13 - Uncle Joe
Exactly where would those NOLA buses containing 10-16,000 people go as Katrina bore down on the city? What other cities were prepared for the influx of evacuees? And riding those tall, slab-sided buses in Katrina's winds would have been problematic at best.
There have been 250,000+ evacuees from NO. Only about 5% would have made it out on buses.
The big questions are (1) why didn't the governor of LA call out the NG in force? The first NG to arrive consisted of 100 troops; and (2) where was FEMA?
It was nowhere to be found. The only federal support during the first three days was the magnificant Coast Guard.
Mr. Bush was johnny-on-the-spot two days after 9/11. He flew over NO and the MS/AL coasts 2-3 days after but hihtailed to D.C. and didn't return for three more days...and then he woudln't go into the city. Why? NO is a heavily Democratic enclave.
14 - Rich
>>Bush did go down there and he did everthing he could before and after the hurricane happened.
What exactly to you guys want him to do???<<
How many body bags till you realize the scope of the problem?
I guess the estimated thousands are not enough.
His involvement is the problem.
15 - Heloise
Desire Projects--Dynamite THEM!
Mary, Heloise said that like the first day--photos showed that busses were sitting under water and TRAINS were also destroyed because they lay nearby. Take a cue from the Germans, transport folks on frieght cars in an emergency!!
It was also asked of the mayor. One person commented that "public transportation was never mentioned in the case of the poor." Here was racism right at the top of city government--hmmm...I told you that too because he is light-skinned, middle class black and he could care less about the 9th ward. He said "get on a bus and go to the Superdome." And they did.
It was also the LAST day of the month--geez forgot about that--and the welfare checks and other government checks did not come yet, hence there was no money to escape with!
It just came to me in a dream that you could find (the projects on a map) and using controlled explosives open a hole in the earth at the Desire Projects in the 9th ward.
They should be destroyed anyway and then you could artificially create a place lower than the rest of the city and water will run to the lowest point anywhere.
Why not have the engineers look into it? It would not hurt and it may help speed things up.
Heloise
16 - Heloise
They took the bus to their deaths! What about the Greyhound busses? Where were they. This was a classic tale folks of "not in my backyard you don't." Up until now, no sane white person in this country would ever want or look at a welfare reject from the 9th ward of New Orleans...not kidding.
How do I know? How many poor black people have you seen with missing person exposes lasting for WEEKS at a time ad nauseum?
Just seeing people, black and white, take them in is amazing in itself...you have no idea. My own crazy, color-struck Creole family would not do it, so my hat goes off to those who will. But I might add--keep an eye on your hats.
Finally, this observation in from a jaded Creole: white middle class people in my own neighborhood are not only helping but they are NOW smiling and waving at me when they see me biking or taking a long walk for exercise!
I mean maybe one might smile in an afternoon or on any given day...but yesterday...every white man and woman I saw smiled, waved, and/or said hello!! And you could see it was sincere. I am bowled over. How long will it last? I used to get that when I would be in public with my good-looking (ex)white boyfriend, or were they just trying to get in an innocent stare? Don't know but it is a change.
Do ya think that there might even be missing black people shown on TV exposes next year on Jewish-run CNN? We're not in Kansas anymore.
Heloise
17 - Heloise
First of all it's NOLA.
Secondly, I watched CNN from Friday night before it was even raining and there were many hours when the traffic had subsided to where people could have safely gotten out at least 600 buses and some train cars and Greyhound?
There was a lot of time to at least try. I did not see any trying...He did say it was a place of last resort. Then I say why was there no food or water there as he had placed in his safe haven?
NOLA is a restaurant city folks. Some damn body could have said: They need food and water! But maybe this was racism on the part of the merchants.
Hey a new group to blame folks: merchants of NOLA, the merchant class there is big and rich and those are the only jobs most blacks can even take. Why did they not give until it hurt?
Heloise
18 - honest
Anthony,
If all Bush could do is go and do photo-ops, he should have kept his a$$ on vacation. I could care less whether he personally appeared or not, just get water and food to those people in New Orleans.
Get your head out of your a$$ and you'll stop seeing only what you want to see
19 - Colette Tucker
As America's "allies" the rest of the western world watches in amazenent how the US government abandons its own, and how the victims of poverty are then blamed and demonised for their poverty. This from the richest and most powerful nation on earth. Not a great bit of PR for the land of opportunity...
Colette
20 - augrad
Uncle Joe wrote:
"What other cities were prepared for the influx of evacuees?"
I know the answer to that one--ALL the surrounding cities were ready. Here in Escambia County, Florida, evacuees started arriving at our shelters on Saturday night. By Sunday afternoon, all Escambia and Santa Rosa shelters were full. Hotels,too. As of today (3:00 on the afternoon of Sept. 7th), we still have 1000 people in our Civic Center. They will be moving from there to our churches and into some private homes. I saw on the news that Mobile has reopened some Army barracks that are not being used and these are 100 two bedroom apartment units. ALL the neighboring states, although some took a pretty significant hit, are accomodating the dislocated. All the governor and mayor had to do was charter Greyhounds and pull up in front of houses. I'll bet those people would have left given the opportunity. It would have been better to to be stuck in traffice a few hours North, East, or West, than to be swimming in your living room.
21 - Kathy Failla
Is it the job of the Governor and Mayor to declare a disaster or evacuation or is it the President's?