The city was fully aware of the fact that they had a mass of drug addicted criminals who would seek shelter there- because those are the exact people who don't have cars. The city poured that element in with innocent poor families and tourists and sick elderly- if they were paying attention and had thought about it ahead of time- they would have predicted this disaster to the T.I'm not sure what the alternatives were - I didn't hear anybody criticize the choice of the Superdome except for people worried the roof would not hold.
Also I thought FEMA actually set up the shelter and I remember those were national guard troops searching everyone before they were allowed in.
But then again- if you don't have an emergency plan- that topic would never have come up at all.
If I am the mayor of a city full of criminals and welfare recipient's I am worried about what happens to my innocent citizens in the case of a emergency. I have a ten plans of what to do to protect innocent life.
They could have bussed these people out of the city which is what the state plan called for in case of a cat 3 hurricane or higher.