I heard the very same media that you are now quoting saying the day before that people refused to leave because they didn't take the threat seriously. And you mention the elderly and people in wheelchairs. We all know there are far far more who were physically capable of leaving. Did you notice all the cars submerged? I'm sure a good number of them belonged to people who were caught in the storm. I also heard people say that people who are looting and destroying the city now knew there was going to be chaos and the looting would be easy. I wonder if you have read the reports of people hijacking the buses on their way to pick up people in the Superdome. I heard an infobabe on FNC the day before Katrina hit say buses were being offered and people would rather sit it out. Its amazing to me the short memories people have. The day before the hurricane, media were talking to people and scads of them were just going to ride it out according to their own words and the reporters were trying to urge them to leave. Now after the disaster the story seems to have changed to they didn't have any chance to evacuate. I'm sure there were some people who just couldn't get out but the vast majority didn't think it could happen to them and stayed. I see it happen here all the time with tornados. They have heard the media cry wolf too many times.
These reports are all from BEFORE the hurricane struck. There is nothing wrong with my memory. I remember watching FOX Shep Smith saying there was no transportation and stuck people were told to go to Superdome with their own food and water and supplies. There were NO buses offered.
Local planning stunk. I don’t blame Pres Bush or the Federal Government. It was the local government on the scene who did not plan.
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Not everyone can flee so easily, though.
"I know they're saying "Get out of town,' but I don't have any way to get out," said Hattie Johns, 74. "If you don't have no money, you can't go."
New Orleans officials estimated at least 100,000 people lack the transportation to get out of town. Mayor Nagin said the Superdome might be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pickup points around New Orleans.
But he advised anyone planning to stay there to bring food, drinks and other comforts such as folding chairs. "No weapons, no large items, and bring small quantities of food for three or four days, to be safe," he said.
http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/1698561.html
The Superdome was already taking in people with special problems Sunday morning. People on walkers, some with oxygen tanks, began checking in when it opened about 8 a.m.
At 11 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said Katrina's maximum sustained wind speed had stepped up to nearly 175 mph, with higher gusts. The hurricane's eye was about 225 miles south-southeast of the mouth of Mississippi River.
The storm was moving west-northwest at nearly 12 mph and was expected to turn north-northwest. Forecasters said the weather would start getting rough late Sunday and the eye would strike land early Monday but they could when.
The mayor said people who opted to go to the Superdome should take enough food and supplies to last three to five days. He said police and firefighters would fan out throughout the city telling residents to get out and that police would have the authority to commandeer any vehicle or building that could be used for evacuation or shelter.
Hotels were exempted from the evacuation order because airlines had canceled all flights out.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,167243,00.html
Thousands of people who could not get out of town lined up outside the 70,000-seat Superdome, hoping to take refuge in the home of the New Orleans Saints professional football club.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800146.html
Despite the dire predictions, a group of residents in a poor neighborhood of central New Orleans sat on a porch with no car, no way out and, surprisingly, no fear.
"We're not evacuating," said Julie Paul, 57. "None of us have any place to go. We're counting on the Superdome. That's our lifesaver."
The Superdome, the 70,000-seat home of football's Saints, opened as an emergency shelter at daybreak Sunday, giving first priority to frail, elderly people. They were told to bring enough food, water and medicine to last up to five days.
"They told us not to stay in our houses because it wasn't safe," said Victoria Young, 76, who sat amid plastic bags and a metal walker. "It's not safe anywhere when you're in the shape we're in."
By nightfall, fitter residents seeking to get in lined up for blocks in the pouring rain, clutching meager belongings and crying children.
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/headlines/?ArID=101130&SecID=41
Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, ordered mandatory evacuation of the city's 485,000 residents. Officials acknowledged tens of thousands of residents and tourists would be unable to leave. With the airport closed, the city organized buses to transport those left behind to 10 emergency shelters and encouraged people to bring supplies and food for a three- to five-day stay.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/08/29/many_thousands_flee_as_giant_storm_closes_in/
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And the able bodied also have children, sick and elderly to look after. I am not ready to second guess these wretched people stuck in the middle of a horrific natural disaster which is not their fault.
I am also unwilling to lump them all as looters, criminals, or bus hijackers. A small group of despicable vultures does not mean no one is worthy of our sympathy and help.