[coconutt2000]

Classism at its best?

[ladyinred]

Some were Brits whose lives were being threatened inside the dome according to them. They were terrified and were in danger because they were white.

[antaresequity]

Steve Haragin that preceded Shep was emphatic and riveting...He couldn't contain his rage, but stuck exactly to the facts....

Consummate professional....

So has been Shepard. That 1-2 combo with both Steve and Shep was some of the most poignant and powerful reporting I have seen...

And they didn't inject one scrap of bias or politics...

Great stuff

[BlackjackPershing]

Nagin is a loser. He'll be defeated next election. Prime campaign ammo: buses submerged with the caption. Buses? They were here, Mayor. You failed us.

[finnman69]

The NO Mayor using his pathetic remaining power to get his buddies out of Lake Nagin.

[msnimje]

Typical. He is more concerned with the Tourist money than the poor underclass he helps keep down!

[vaudine]

I thought that too. On the other hand, imagine the international headlines if foreign tourists were murdered---and the upscale places were staked out by the criminal element. A couple of days ago, a woman interviewed on TV said the hotel she was in told her she had to leave because they could not protect her, plus they had no power water or food. She had a car and drove out of town with people beating on her car and jumping in front trying to make her stop. She was terrified.

vaudine

[NonValueAdded]

If you consider that tourists will not likely require further sheltering but rather will flee back to their homes, it might make sense to get them out of the way quickly, giving a pause to the receiving facilities who have had a steady stream of inbound refugees. I'd also think the bus trip for the tourists would be considerably shorter like to the nearest working airport and thus the buses would be recycled sooner.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I hope this gets play alond with the picture of all the New Orleans buses under water. The NO powers that be have a LOT to answer for in the shortage of buses.

[AmericanInTokyo]

What are the synomyms for "tourist" here?

Foreigners?

Well to do?

Budget backpackers?

Asians?

Whites?

British?

Somebody give me a clue on this.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Hey, per the code of Southern hospitality, I would hope that your guests would get priority evacuation.

[Paleo Conservative]

Everyone should have been evacuated. Tourists should not have been left to fend for themselves in getting out. They can not be expected to know what to do in a hurricane. Considering NO is a major tourist destination there should have been contingency plans to evacuate tourists. I think a few chartered 777's would work. I'd cancel all the normal flights and just have charter flights to major hub airports like DFW, IAH, and ATL. That way they could catch flights to anywhere from those hubs. Return flights from those airports could be used to fly in additional high value emergency supplies so they could be prepositioned and ready to go to deal with the aftermath of the storm.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Up until a day or so ago, I had been reading that Biloxi and a lot of Mississippi had been "flattened" by Katrina. Ain't heard crap about Mississippi lately. I guess there aren't any African-Americans living there and President Bush isn't in charge of Biloxi like he is New Orleans.

[flying Elvis]

Nagin will be hung out to dry after this. Dems in Louisiana don't trust him because he is viewed as a Republican stealth candidate (he was a Republican and only switched parties to get elected in NO), and because he endorsed Jindal.

[stlnative]

The Tourists paid 25,000 for 10 buses days ago and those buses were comandeered by FEMA for evac. After notifying BBC press the tourist got the buses back and that's why they were sent to the front of the line. They PAID for these buses.

I don't know if you saw this - but this is true - These people were stuck in the French Quarters - one of the hotel owners hired the buses (charged each person $75.00+ for a seat on one of the buses, $75 x 400 = $30,000) - when they got to the French Quarters, FEMA took them over but gave the French Quarter tourist people a ride to the Super Dome or the people walked to the Super Dome - then the people moved to the Hyatt due to the violence at the Super Dome.

This is what I have heard. The people were tourists (brits - aussies - american from other states - etc) there was 400 of them. Most of them tried to fly out but the airport was shut down on Sunday and the people returned to the hotels from the airport.

[dawn53]

We lived on Grand Cayman for several years. When a hurricane was approaching the policy was evacuate the tourists first.

Then the expats and Caymanians could leave if there was time.

I don't really see anything wrong in moving tourists out first, especially in a town that had relied on its tourists for its revenue. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't get them out of town sooner or make them evacuate before the storm.

[cpacis]

The mayor is a total idiot. He could of save all those people if he wisely deployed all those school buses before the storm hit. Now those school buses are stranded under 10 feet plus of water. Now he blames others for their misfortunes. A true typical democrat. No solutions but always willing to offer their 2 cents.

[ChristianDefender]

Poor Mayor.. He's in trouble...

Alright Kayne West who now hates black people?

[plain talk]

I saw that. He did exactly the right thing if it involved putting tourists at the head of the line in front of locals who knew full well the risks of living there. I say that as someone who lived there for 20 years. Every local knew the risk. Most had cars and could evacuate. The tourists were screwed.

[RGSpincich]

Nagin did something right.