Katrina Facts - The Blame Game!

[Cartman]

1. Bush called for the mandatory evacuation of everyone in New Orleans before the Governor or Mayor. http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?base/news-18/1125239940201382.xml&storylist=louisiana (http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?base/news-18/1125239940201382.xml&storylist=louisiana)

"NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.
The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

2. All pre-evacuation plans for New Orleans called for bussing and assistance to those who do not have private transportation. http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/plans/EOPSupplement1a.pdf (http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/plans/EOPSupplement1a.pdf)

"The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." "Previous hurricanes evacuations in New Orleans were always voluntary, because so many people don't have the means of getting out. Some are too poor and there is always a French Quarter full of tourists who get caught."
http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html#004752 (http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html#004752) found this gem

3. Keeping in mind this hurricane plan that was not followed, take a look at the picture of the 255 buses, which I picture yesterday at Junkyard blog. As http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html#004752 (http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html#004752) says, "we count 255 buses in that one lot. That means at a capacity of 66 on board, 16,830 New Orleans residents could have been evacced out in one trip. Even if you have a lower capacity per bus, say 50 per bus, you're still getting nearly 13,000 out in one run. In an emergency mandatory evacuation, you could probably get away with putting more than 66 on each of those buses."


UPDATE: And GOOD LORD, he just found another couple hundred city buses (the other ones were yellow school buses) which would have saved another 18,000 or so on 1 trip alone.

4. No one has proof of what exactly caused the breaches of 3 canals, but 1 eye witness quoted on Fox News today speaking with said that he saw floating grain barges hit the 17th st. canal and cause that breach, not just flood waters. This is pure conjecture, but regardless, the breaches of the 17th st levee occurred at the newly reconstructed and restored part of the levee, not the old decrepit part. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050901corps,1,7189346.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050901corps,1,7189346.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true) this gem via http://www.michellemalkin.com/ (http://www.michellemalkin.com/)

"WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that a lack of funding for hurricane-protection projects around New Orleans did not contribute to the disastrous flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina.In a telephone interview with reporters, corps officials said that although portions of the flood-protection levees remain incomplete, the levees near Lake Pontchartrain that gave way--inundating much of the city--were completed and in good condition before the hurricane. However, they noted that the levees were designed for a Category 3 hurricane and couldn't handle the ferocious winds and raging waters from Hurricane Katrina, which was a Category 4 storm when it hit the coastline. The decision to build levees for a Category 3 hurricane was made decades ago based on a cost-benefit analysis."I don't see that the level of funding was really a contributing factor in this case," said Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, chief of engineers for the corps. "Had this project been fully complete, it is my opinion that based on the intensity of this storm that the flooding of the business district and the French Quarter would have still taken place."


In light of just the above evidence, no reasonable person can blame a poor response, nor re fault of the people left for days on the President. The fact is, he acted quickly to salvage the situation with the military when it had spiraled out of countrol because of the failures of local and state authorities.



http://americansforfreedom.blogspot.com/2005/09/ive-had-it-with-people-blaming-this.html

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[10x]

"In light of just the above evidence, no reasonable person can blame a poor response, nor re fault of the people left for days on the President. The fact is, he acted quickly to salvage the situation with the military when it had spiraled out of countrol because of the failures of local and state authorities."

BULSHIT!

[Cartman]

How would you know bullshit when you see it?

... you can't even spell it!


..

[rossshow]

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=1000064575&tstart=0&mod=1125858114659

[Shadowcat]

1) "Personally appealed" isn't the same thing as calling for something. However, without knowing the exact phrasing(Did he say something like "I think it might be a good idea if y'all got outta the city" or was it like "I want you to get your people out of there"). Sure, it's a quibble but that's politics, where entire documents may rest on the usage of one word.

2) I read through the PDF document and I have to disagree with the junkyard person. There's a whole procedure for declaring and implementing evacuations but there's nothing about the means by which those evacuations are to proceed. If there's another document that specifically states that schoolbuses are part of the mobilization plan, then yes, the local authorities messed up.

3) Assumption based on (2)

4) Conjecture is irrelevant.

In light of just the above evidence, no reasonable person can blame a poor response, nor re fault of the people left for days on the President. The fact is, he acted quickly to salvage the situation with the military when it had spiraled out of countrol because of the failures of local and state authorities.

If you're basing your defense of the President entirely on what you listed here, you're in for a huge dose of cognitive dissonance.

If all you're doing is showing that the local authorities share some of the responsibility for not doing enough to prepare the population for evacuation then I would agree.

However, the Bush administration shoulders the majority of the responsibility for the slow response of federal emergency assistance, the slow deployment of the NG, the refusal or ignoring of outside offers of help, and just the general screwup that has become the benchmark of this administration.

Before your eyes bulge, though, think of this: Louisiana wasn't the only state devastated by the hurricane. There are two other states with the same problems as NO and they are run by Republicans. If you're going to blame the local authorities for the slow federal response, you'd damn well better be prepared to blame ALL the local authorities-even the Republican ones.

[10x]

"that specifically states that schoolbuses are part of the mobilization plan"

Amusingly I have seen this type of thing stated but with no place to get drivers.

So equipment is or was avalable, were were the dirivers operators, HOME getting their stuf and folks out.

[Buffalo]

FEMA does not come in until the Governor declares an emergency. When she did declare an emergency, they dragged their feet (of course, we can't blame Bush for this because first off he is not in charge of FEMA, and second off.. he's just plain not in charge)....