Snope's Urban Legends: The New Orleans School Buses

Snopes.com ^ | 6 September 2005 | Snopes.com

[BlackRain]

School Buses

Claim: Photograph shows school buses caught in a flooded New Orleans parking lot.

Status: True.

[TexasGreg]

Naw ... those school buses have LOTS of bathrooms. They're called "windows."
And ... of course ... not having (working) bathrooms never stopped Nagin from stuffing thousands into the Superdome.

[PMCarey]

I agree with everything you said, but you can't just drop people off the bus on the side of a road with a Cat 4 hurrican coming down the pike. The problem is that you need something on the other end or else it would be better to send them to the Superdome where at least you would have shelter. My point (and it's a pretty simple one) is that there need to be coordination with the state to have someplace to put people when they got off the bus. Thus the problem is not simply Nagin's, but Blanco's as well.

[feedback doctor]

I used to consider Snopes the final word on Urban legends ... not anymore. If politics is involved, their conclusions will now be "questionable" in my estimation.

What do they have to say about the Bill Burkett/60 Minutes - Bush ANG Memos?

[PMCarey]

What is she going to do blockade the roadways to seal people in the city?

Knowing Blanco she would've told them to wait a few days so she could study the problem.

[PMCarey]

Even if those busses were in the middle of nowhere, at least those people would be alive.

In the middle of hurricane with no shelter? Hmmmm ....

[Black Bart]

If they had used the school buses to evacuate, where would they have taken all of those people? Do you just drive them out of town and leave them somewhere?

The best idea I've read here was to bus them to the public schools throughout the state. Might not have been ideal, but it certainly would have been easier for SA and Red Cross to supply refugees in accessible school buildings than where they ended up.

[RegulatorCountry]

"you can't just drop people off the bus on the side of a road with a Cat 4 hurrican coming down the pike"

But you can leave them below sea level with twenty feet of water pouring in on them?

[mewzilla]

"Whether this photograph truly represents a lost opportunity to have evacuated a substantial number of New Orleans residents ahead of Hurricane Katrina is difficult to assess."

Tell it to the kid who singlehandedly saved a bunch of people when he made off with a bus full that he drove to Houston.

[dfwgator]

Had those people been evacuated on Thursday before the Hurricane, which should have been done according to their evacuation plan, they could have fled to well out of harm's way.

[mewzilla]

Next Snopes will say that the kid is an urban legend.

[PMCarey]

Had those people been evacuated on Thursday before the Hurricane ...

What was the weather situation at that point? Was it known that a Cat 5 was coming down at NO at that point was it only a possibility?

[hobbes1]

Probably the same busses that were used during elections to get DEMOCRAT voters to polling places.

There, that looks about right.

[F-117A]

So let's say you're the mayor and yeah you have these buses; but no one has set up any shelter to receive those people. What good are the buses to you now?

Well, you have a plan that includes people, buses and shelter! If the plan doesn't have them, you change the plan BEFORE the hurrican hits!!!

[pageonetoo]

"City administrators distributed hundreds of DVDs in vulnerable, low-income neighborhoods"

Right here, you have an idiotically dissonant, bureaucratic act..-RC

IEM to Lead Development of Hurricane Plan for Louisiana

...In making the announcement today on behalf of teaming partners Dewberry, URS Corporation and James Lee Witt Associates, IEM Director of Homeland Security Wayne Thomas explained that the development of a base catastrophic hurricane disaster plan has urgency...

The IEM team will complete a functional exercise on a catastrophic hurricane strike in Southeast Louisiana (KATRINA*) and use results to develop a response and recovery plan. A catastrophic event is one that can overwhelm state, local and private capabilities so quickly that communities could be devastated without Federal assistance and multi-agency planning and preparedness...

"Given this area's vulnerability, unique geographic location and elevation, and troubled escape routes, a plan that facilitates a rapid and effective hurricane response and recovery is critical," he said. "The IEM team's approach to catastrophic planning meets the challenges associated with integrating multi-jurisdictional needs and capabilities into an effective plan for addressing catastrophic hurricane strikes, as well as man-made catastrophic events."

How did James Lee Witt get his plan working so quickly?

[PMCarey]

But you can leave them below sea level with twenty feet of water pouring in on them?

No good options. The best option would be to have a governor who isn't a total butt-head and who could coordinate the shelter setup with you.

[RegulatorCountry]

"Was it known that a Cat 5 was coming down at NO at that point was it only a possibility?"

The surrounding parishes issued their evacuation orders early on Saturday afternoon. Fatalities were greatly diminished by their sense of responsibility and timeliness.

[mewzilla]

I wonder who's paying Witt? I notice the Dems who say Halliburton every other word don't have a problem with this.

[dfwgator]

So are you saying you should only evacuate when you know the storm will definately hit? That's a good way to get a lot of people killed. They new New Orleans would be severely affected whether the storm directly hit NOLA or not, there was almost 100% certainty even on Thursday of that.

[TexasGreg]

Agreed! Of course that was arranged after the disaster with federal assistance and the eyes of the nation on the whole situation. Could they have sent 250,000 to Texas on Saturday or Sunday BEFORE the storm? I'd think you would grant that that is a very different situation.

No need to bring them to Texas ... Baton Rouge is only 1 hour and 40 minutes away by bus.

[RJS1950]

That question was supposed to be answered by the LA state disaster plan. Baton Rouge, Houston would have been good candidates.