barges.
this is an emergency.
hell - whomp up some catamaran pontoon rafts, just get the live bodies out of there before they become dead bodies.
and for God's sake take them UPriver.
please pardon the mega-ping
I lived in NOLA for seven years. Here's the straight dope:
FEMA et alia need to stop thinking about SAR in land-air terms.
There's really only one way to have a mass-exodus out of New Orleans at this point:
THE RIVER.
The river levee is the highest large open patch of land in the area, and there are a lot of docks.
I *know* there are a lot of shallow-draft barges and tugs which could be militarized and tasked for evacuation.
Getting folks to the levee might require teams in zodiacs, pirogues, and maybe even hovercraft, but it can be done.
I've heard that the river is not currently navigable to shipping.
I'm not talking about deep-hull ships.
I'm talking shallow-draft barges.
this is an emergency. The normal safety protocols do not apply.
hell - whomp up some catamaran pontoon rafts, just get the live bodies out of there before they become dead bodies.
And for God's sake: Take them UPriver.
All they need to do is get 30miles upriver.
They need to start doing this NOW NOW NOW - the situation in NOLA is going to get a lot worse, especially if the river levee breaches or is topped when the upstream rains swell the Mississippi over the next few days.
If they don't get serious about this, the death-toll will be phenomenal - just as sure as sure as dead men stink.
Pass this on, if you have FEMA/NG contacts.