This is why I hate the West Coast of Florida

[gae]

Cap'n reason, the stats I've seen state that NO is 65% black. But whether it's 60 or 65%, it doesn't matter all that much.

I don't disagree that those "left behind" were poor. That they are also black is immaterial.

My problem is that the race card is being played. I visit a very liberal board, and the constant refrain there is that if NO was mostly white, EVERYONE would have been given safe passage to the destination of their choice. That's bunk.

[travelinman]

Let?s cut the crap.

There are 145 school buses parked within 2 miles of the Superdome that could have been used for evacuation ether before or after the storm. As you can see from the pictures I posted the water level is only up to the busses wheel wells and the highway to the Superdome is elevated. An average bus holds between 65 and 80 people so being conservative 145 x 70 = 10,150 people could have been evacuated with only one trip per bus. So if a trip to say Baton Rouge takes 6 hours round trip, with multiple drivers and stopping for fuel a bus can make 3 trips a day.

10,150 x 3 = 30,450 people a day can be moved.
30,450 x 7 = 213,150 people a week can be moved.

It would seem to me that a Mayor of a city does not need the President of the United States or the Federal government to use his own school buses.

[reason]

Originally posted by travelinman:
Let?s cut the crap.

There are 145 school buses parked within 2 miles of the Superdome that could have been used for evacuation ether before or after the storm. As you can see from the pictures I posted the water level is only up to the busses wheel wells and the highway to the Superdome is elevated. An average bus holds between 65 and 80 people so being conservative 145 x 70 = 10,150 people could have been evacuated with only one trip per bus. So if a trip to say Baton Rouge takes 6 hours round trip, with multiple drivers and stopping for fuel a bus can make 3 trips a day.

10,150 x 3 = 30,450 people a day can be moved.
30,450 x 7 = 213,150 people a week can be moved.

It would seem to me that a Mayor of a city does not need the President of the United States or the Federal government to use his own school buses.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Superdome was overcrowded and strained, so taking the buses there was not an option.

Ok. Take those buses to Baton Rouge. Then what? There was no plan for the housing of 10,000 people, much less 50,000, or 100,000.

[reason]

This is one of the reasons why I place so much blame on the Federal Government. From today's WSJ:

The levees along the Industrial Canal's eastern side are supposed to stand at a height of 15 feet, according to the New Orleans district of the US Army Corp of Engineers. Joseph Suhayda, a retired Louisiana State University coastal oceanographer, suspects the levees aren't actually that tall, partly due to the sinking land beneath them....If he' right, that would mean the levees weren't high enough to handle even a category two or three hurricane. Katrina made landfall as a category 4.

The Corp of Engineers concedes some of its levees in the area aren't as high as it officially claims. A fact sheet on Corp's web site dated May 23, 2005, said: "Several levees have settled and need to be raised to provide design protection." But federal budget shortfalls in fiscal 2005 and 2006 "will prevent the Corps from address these pressing needs."

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[travelinman]

You want to talk about the ACoE's budget we can talk off line. But don't beleive that BS you just posted.

[reason]

Are you saying the ACoE's budget is much larger than they are saying?

With regards to the evacuation, I just read an article posted on Drudge that says the responsibility for getting people out of the city lies with local and state governments. That's all fine and good - and sorry to beat a dead horse - but load up all those buses with 60,000 people, where do you take them?

Don't get me wrong, I think Nagin was neglegent in publicly announcing his storm plan - weeks before the storm - that those without transportation were left to fend for themselves. That's obviously not a satisfactory plan.

But that's exactly what was planned and announced to the public.

The evacuation of so many people on these buses to locations in other states is beyond the scope of a mayor. I contend that if FEMA and the state and the city actually all sat down together and truly looked at this beforehand, finding destinations for evacuees would have been first priority.

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ September 08, 2005 08:56 AM: Message edited by: Live From Florida ]</font>

[reason]

Originally posted by Live From Florida:
It was President Bush who called Mayor Nagin and suggested an evacuation of the city. Which begs the question why resources were so slow to arrive.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, the President called the Governor, not the Mayor.

[reason]

Originally posted by gae:
Cap'n reason, the stats I've seen state that NO is 65% black. But whether it's 60 or 65%, it doesn't matter all that much.

I don't disagree that those "left behind" were poor. That they are also black is immaterial.

My problem is that the race card is being played. I visit a very liberal board, and the constant refrain there is that if NO was mostly white, EVERYONE would have been given safe passage to the destination of their choice. That's bunk.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, I'll tell you what looks bad in all of this. The wealthy areas that are all white are high and dry. As of yesterday, some of these areas having electricity and running water - according to the WSJ. Conversely, the all black areas are under water.

Add to the mix that the levees really weren't fit for a cat three and the Army Corp of Engineers knew this, I'm thinking this isn't going to look good.

[jumper69]

The wealthy areas that are all white are high and dry. As of yesterday, some of these areas having electricity and running water - according to the WSJ. Conversely, the all black areas are under water.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">If the wealthy areas are above sea level, then it makes sense that they would be restored first. They don't have to wait for the water to be pumped out.

I know, I know....thank you Mr. Obvious!

[reason]

I'm trying to point out the contrast of two different groups - one who lives in a nice house with lights and air conditioning - and one down the road who had nothing to begin with and is now under water.

If you're someone who is under water and had nothing to begin with and you hear you were protected by a levee that wasn't as high as you were told - and the government knew it - it would be easy to see yourself as "marked."