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There was enough time and enough buses available to have moved 100s of thousands of folks before the hurricane struck.

Where is your proof for this. Ive seen one picture of buses. Assuming you could squeeze 40 people on each bus for a 12 hour trip it would take 2500 fully fueled buses and drivers to take 100,000 out. By all reports there were some 250,000 people left behind. That would require more than 6000 buses and drivers assuming you get the people to the busses and force them to get on board. In addition, you are talking about putting another 6000 large vehicles on highways that were already crawling due to heavy auto traffic trying to escape.

There are approximately 400 buses at two PHOTOGRAPHED sites, alone..

Once must assume there were additional buses owned by Churches, Catholic and Private Schools, private companies, etc.....

Make a conservative estimate for a city the size of New Orleans, that the total buses at their IMMEDIATE command in an emergency situation would have been at least 600 buses..

600 buses x ~50 passengers each = 30,000 evacuees per trip.

Allow 4 hours per round trip - to get at LEAST get them out of the hurricane impact/flood zone area -- and they had 2 day notice of IMMINENT DANGER....

2 days = 48 hours / 4 hours = 12 potential round trips.
12 trips x 30,000 evacuees per trip = 360,000 evacuees.

That's a LOT of folks moved out of the path of destruction, and OUT OF THE CITY. This doesn't even consider that the Governor could have mobilized her NG and requested Federal assistance and secured almost unlimited transportation assistance and Federal facilities to temporarily shelter the evacuees ----- BEFORE THE STORM STRUCK.

There was PLENTY of time to initially move HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS out of New Orleans and then put these valuable assets (buses) on the high ground near the Stadium and Convention center to be placed in service again AFTER the hurricane passed.. The city "fathers" didn't do that, and thousands died. The buses are STILL in flooded parking lots..

The Mayor and Governor dallied, and folks died.
Escape for MANY was available and unused.

Semper Fi

It didn't take a 12-hour bus ride to get out of New Orleans! One young man took the initiative and rescued 70 in one bus trip. He had never driven a bus before and still got it done. You could also say he saved public property from certain destruction as well.

Too many forget about other forms of transportation. The trains....should have been used prior to the storm, no delays no being stuck in traffic. Just send them out of the path and could have made several trips, just as the buses could have been utilized. But elect a DUmocrat....take your chances if you choose.