"the incompetence which is obvious"
We recognize the problems, but no one has offered any suggestions which are logisticaly feasible.
Boats up the river? How many boats? How fast can they travel?
The most practical was the suggestion of bus lanes with busses picking people up at designated points. Trains could also have been used.
But we didn't see any of this, did we? Nope. The plan for the poor was NO PLAN.
I'll help you out. If the mandatory evac plan had started at 48 hours out, and it contained a bus plan, they could have run most of the transit buses on evac routes to shelters in Baton Rouge, and even with the contraflow on the freeways utilized alternative US highways for a quick return into the city. LSU is on the south side of BR, about 80 miles from NO. Could have probably made at least 2 round trips over 24-30 hours. With 100 NO and BR buses carrying at least 50 each, that's 10,000, or 1/3rd of those in the superdome, double that if they could get 200 buses running. 2nd day allow most transit workers to evac, an the few essential personnel could shuttle the invalids who couldn't evac(the original persons the superdome shelter was intended for) to shelter. Concurrently they could have had a plan in place to utilize rail for evacs. Amtrak has a maintenance base in NO, with excess cars. 2 trains could shuttle approx. 1000 per train, and could make 3 to 5 round trips in 24 hours (no traffic backups) and one of the rail lines goes right by the LSU campus. Could use the campus athletic gyms and coliseum, and perhaps some classroom bldgs as shelters.
So right there that is 20-30,000 evacuated in 24-30 hours. Perhaps more if additional Amtrak cars were available for more trains. And if more is needed, they could also have had a plan to commandeer freight railroad boxcars and gondolas for an emergency shuttle train. Yes, that has problems, no bathrooms, hot, bumpy, slightly dangerous, but it is only 80 miles and if given priority the trip could be made in 3-4 hours. Limit to healthy adults, put families and the elderly on the buses and passenger trains. Its a life and death emergency, so to hell with the trial lawyers and OSHA-types. Could easily move 10-20,000+ that way, and get most of the younger tourists out. And wouldn't need the freight cars if they had an anticipatory plan in place that requested emergency use of the commuter rail cars used in Dallas. Would take about 12-20 hours to reposition from Dallas if there had been a plan negotiated and in place long before.
So right there are ways to get 50,000 persons out, IF it had been planned long in advance, AND the officials had had the guts to make the mandatory evac calls 48 hours in advance, instead of 24. Plus with the smaller # of invalids requiring NO sheltering, perhaps other facilities like casinos or the convention center(which are at about 15' above sea level on the levee) could have been used, if safer than the superdome.