Total bull*&^%! They were certainly available BEFORE the storm but the stuck on stupid mayor allowed them to be flooded instead of using them to evacuate the poor.
# Buses that the Federal Emergency Management Agency promised reportedly within hours of Katrina's landfall weren't actually ordered until early Wednesday.
Possibly true; I have no way of knowing this one way or the other.
# State government didn't have transportation assets to send. It would take days to mobilize a fleet of school buses from throughout the state.
Total bull*&^%! You'd be amazed at how quickly people will respond if asked. Ask and let the paperwork follow later; no decent person would fault you for that in this situation.
# There was no emergency plan for moving people before or after the hurricane -- just a general framework that was yet to be fleshed out.
Total bull*&^%! The plan calls to use city busses and school bussed to move people out BEFORE the storm-I've seen the plan.
What I don't understand that if it took "days" to mobilize a fleet of school buses, then what were they doing in all the DAYS that the weather service said the storm was coming? It's not like they just woke up Sunday morning and said -- Blanco: "have you heard about a hurricane headed this way?" Nagin: "naw, but let me get back to you. I've got my bookie on the other line."
Besides, they still didn't use the transportation IN New Orleans that was available to them on Thursday, Friday or Saturday before the storm hit.