I don't think so.
Posted on 09/02/2005 2:18:15 PM PDT by LarryDeRobio
When asked where the blame should begin for the rescue/relief problems in New Orleans, MSNBC analyst Don Goure made the point that it was the city that directed people to go the Superdome and to the convention center.
"No but the same guy was just on my local radio station KMBZ in Kansas City, with host Jerry Agar, and heard by a vast listening audience"
The guy from MSNBC?
The problems here begin at the city level, and a I believe any truly objective analysis would confirm that. The mayor lost all credibility with his defeatist "blame everyone but me" tirade. It was the transparent rant of someone who knew he'd f'ed up.
But don't you see, this way the school board got to save all those fuel and depreciation costs that they would have had to shoulder had those buses been used, the Teamsters who would have driven those buses full of storm victims would still be able to collect their overtime and hazard pay without having to actually do anything, the city can now demand that the feds replace all of those buses by sending them a blank check so they and the unions have ample opportunity to skim off a big fat "bonus" for all their "hard work" (and then whine that the feds didn't send enough), and finally, the Dims get to blame President Bush for not lifting a finger to help those people in the Superdome.
It doesn't get much better than that if you're a democrat!
"And where are the transit busses? Bet they are in a similar flooded yard."
Yes!!!! That came up earlier. They do have public transit there, right? It's an emergency, right? Bus all the people out of there, right? What the hell went on down there?
"25,000 + people in the Dome for a game or concert is one thing, but! to put that many in there to live is another thing enitrely."
Exactly. It's like they were treating it as a game that would last three hours rather than three days. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!
Going to the Superdome on Sunday was not the problem ... STAYING
in an unsanitary location for days and not having a plan since monday to get EVERYBODY out of NO is the problem, plus the lax attitude about looters.
They could have commandeered 1000 school buses and moved people out of the superdome on Tuesday.
I'll bet you anything that in the end, it all comes down to $$$$. Some bureaucrat in the transit department probably figured that if the "Mayor" ordered those buses to be used for evacuees, the city would have to pay for it, whereas if they waited the feds would pick up the tab.
I was disabused of that notion before the age of 10 when Hurricane Celia hit in 1970. I have not stayed through another hurricane since! I was in summer school prior to my freshman year in college when Hurricane Allen hit in 1980. Aparrently most people in Coastal Bend had the same idea and according to my brother and parents, the evacuation was really messed up. It took them seven or eight hours to drive 90 miles. There were several stupid traffic signals in towns that did not yet have a highway bypass built. It was really obvious that local and state officials had not figured out how to run a proper evacuation. In 1999, hurricane Bret veered away from the Coastal Bend and hit the rather uninhabited King Ranch. Fortunately I was on vacation over 1,000 miles away. The big controversy was that lots of people were upset at Governor Bush, because a TXDOT bureaucrat in Austin refused to authorize reversing the direction of the southbound lanes of I-37 contrary to the expectations of local residents and politicians. I really didn't think that that decision should have been left to a politically unaccountable bureaucrat. Interestingly a few weeks later, there was a hurricane headed for Florida and Governor Jeb Ordered the inbound lanes of I-4 to be reversed.
THREE DAYS!!?
I heard they are suppose to be there for
TWO WEEKS!
Saying it would take that long to try and
sort themselves out and find other lodgings.
Today, they just got their own zip code for
the AstroDome, where they can receive mail.
I don't think so.
"Going to the Superdome on Sunday was not the problem ... STAYING in an unsanitary location for days and not having a plan since monday to get EVERYBODY out of NO is the problem, plus the lax attitude about looters."
Key point. To me the city and state cut and ran hoping that the feds would save the day, and when they didn't they came out bitching in a cya operation.
"Yes!!!! That came up earlier. They do have public transit there, right? It's an emergency, right? Bus all the people out of there, right? What the hell went on down there?"
They have a collective IQ of 7, maybe?
These ideas are so obvious, I cant imagine what prevents NO or state officials from thinking them up.
And it doesnt even need to be New Orleans busses. If they are waterlogged, fine. Commandeer every school bus in baton rouge and send them to the superdome. Ferry people from the superdome to baton rouge, and then use other transport, rail, air, whatever to get them to some housing facilities...
QED
I feel like we are watching a bad movie and we want to tell the main character 'no dont do that' and they go ahead and do it anyway.... so the people suffer because leaders are clueless.
Sad.
Did they? I'm not convinced they knew the levee was going to break."
Sunday night, the prediction was a level 5 Hurricane hitting New Orleans DIRECTLY ... what happened was New Orleans was spared the worst ... instead of 25 foot surge, only 12-15 foot... the lake Levee could handle 18-20 feet.
THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE WORSE THAN IT WAS.
Monday, the worst case scenario was avoided and they thought they be okay.
New Orleans is flooded only because a canal levee broke, which was actually unexpected.
I cant fathom how bad it would have been had it really been the worst-case scenario.
"These ideas are so obvious, I cant imagine what prevents NO or state officials from thinking them up."
You're right. They're fundamental. It's not like the lefties connecting things to Iraq, or the Sharptons bringing in race, etc. COMMANDEER THE BUSES AND PAY THE BUS DRIVERS OVERTIME AND HAVE THEM GO PICK EVERYONE UP AND TAKE THEM TO HIGHER GROUND FOR GOD'S SAKE!
"They could have commandeered 1000 school buses and moved people out of the superdome on Tuesday."
I was talking about school busses from OTHER parts of Louisiana, like Baton Rouge. It's only a 1 1/2 hour drive by I-10.
No this guy was giving the interview to PMSNBC as a emergency and disaster preparedness specialist.
Maybe a 1.5 hour drive in normal times. Wasn't the I-10 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain heavily damaged?
Devastation in New Orleans: 'We have whitecaps on Canal Street'
Portions of the Interstate 10 high-rise bridge over the mouth of Lake Pontchartrain east of New Orleans have collapsed. Another bridge, the causeway running across the middle of the lake, has structural damage, and engineers are inspecting U.S. 11, which also crosses the lake, to determine if it is structurally sound.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.