[gov_bean_ counter]

Is use of the school buses something the Mayor could order or was it the responsibility of some school system official? Don't know Napoleonic Law and don't know the actual power the Mayor has even in emergency situations.

Nevertheless, as has been pointed out on this board, New Orleans officials did not adjust what ever excuse they had for an evacuation plan after it fell apart last year.

[Dems_R_Losers]

My understanding is that in a state of emergency, government officials have the authority to commandeer any vehicle or facility, public or private, to save lives. The mayor certainly did not need to consult anybody to get those schoool buses out and start picking people up. But the city transit system is what I am concerned about. New Orleans has a huge transit system, hundreds of city buses that are bigger and safer than school buses. The transit system closed at 6 p.m. on Sunday and apparently ran regular routes the whole day. By Saturday afternoon, those buses should have been running 24/7 into those poor neighborhoods and taking them to high ground or out of town. The state could have ordered contraflow on the Interstates just for the buses. There are all kinds of measures that could have been taken to save those poor people and NONE OF THEM WERE DONE.

I am so pissed off about this I can hardly see today. This human tragedy was so easily avoidable by any local leaders who had half a brain.