Mr. President

[Downdraft]

1. Federalize the national guard immediately.

2. Pursuant to your constitutional authority declare the city of New Orleans to be in a state of armed insurrection against establish authority.

3. Airlift in a division of combat troops and begin restoring order immediately.

4. Declare this disaster to be an event jeopardizing the national security of the United States and move to correct it.

5. GET A COMMANDER on the ground people can SEE.

[Talon402]

I second each of those.

[dwg71]

I second each of those.

Should have been done, 3 days ago. Put me in the superdome with no water or food, no a/c, no hope, and you'll see me get very desperate.

These are desperate people, they are in dire need of help, they are not animals or criminals (99% anyway).

Bush must step up and lead.

[FloridaHawk82]

I second each of those.

Should have been done, 3 days ago. Put me in the superdome with no water or food, no a/c, no hope, and you'll see me get very desperate.

These are desperate people, they are in dire need of help, they are not animals or criminals (99% anyway).

Bush must step up and lead.

Have you people not been reading the other threads? Nagin himself said in his scathing (and heartfelt) radio interview that there is a General on the ground who is IN CHARGE and doing a great job. The problem is how long it took/is taking the Governor of LA to formally request Active Troops and to hand authority over to the President. Do I think the Feds are without blame? It would be foolish and ignorant to take that stance. But the problem lies in that the CITY and STATE government did NOT execute the disaster and evacuation plan that they had in place and practiced LAST year.

I'm borrowing the following image from Brent who posted this in another thread, but the following photo of unused and flooded busses in New Orleans says it all. The city had 3 full days to use these and city busses to make multiple caravan trips in and out of the city to get the sick, elderly, and people otherwise unable to leave out during their MANDATORY evacuation.

Mayor Nagin is doing the correct thing is screaming LOUD, but at some point in the future he simply needs to sit down beside the Governor in front of a very large mirror.

[dwg71]

I second each of those.

Should have been done, 3 days ago. Put me in the superdome with no water or food, no a/c, no hope, and you'll see me get very desperate.

These are desperate people, they are in dire need of help, they are not animals or criminals (99% anyway).

Bush must step up and lead.

Have you people not been reading the other threads? Nagin himself said in his scathing (and heartfelt) radio interview that there is a General on the ground who is IN CHARGE and doing a great job. The problem is how long it took/is taking the Governor of LA to formally request Active Troops and to hand authority over to the President. Do I think the Feds are without blame? It would be foolish and ignorant to take that stance. But the problem lies in that the CITY and STATE government did NOT execute the disaster and evacuation plan that they had in place and practiced LAST year.

I'm borrowing the following image from Brent who posted this in another thread, but the following photo of unused and flooded busses in New Orleans says it all. The city had 3 full days to use these and city busses to make multiple caravan trips in and out of the city to get the sick, elderly, and people otherwise unable to leave out during their MANDATORY evacuation.

Mayor Nagin is doing the correct thing is screaming LOUD, but at some point in the future he simply needs to sit down beside the Governor in front of a very large mirror.

I commend the job he is doing, if he keeps it up he wont have to worry about evacuating more people, he will need to start thinking about mass graves. I'm sure he is trying "but the results are not acceptable".

[shaner]

I wondered last night about NOLA busses and why they weren't used to ferry people out of the area before the storm hit. Looks like I was right, unfortunately.

[dwg71]

I wondered last night about NOLA busses and why they weren't used to ferry people out of the area before the storm hit. Looks like I was right, unfortunately.

The picture of the buses is real touching, but the situation now is caused by the levee breach, not Katrina directly. What if the levee had just broke in the middle of winter and your in this exact situation. I dont care about blaming anybody for what happend, I'm blaming people for what is not happening now. Get the people out of there. It shouldn't take 5 days. Why is the Naval (or Coast Guard not sure which it is) Hospital Ship, not scheduled to leave MD until Sunday? Harry Connick has driven to and from the Superdome, why cant they get these people out. I'll tell you why, FEMA (and that's who's job it is) can't get the logistics figured out.

[stormie]

5. GET A COMMANDER on the ground people can SEE.

Yes! Remember what a great job Giuliani did at press conferences on and after 9-11 by saying a few words then stepping aside to allow various experts/leaders to speak more specifically about what they were doing. This led to a great deal of confidence felt by the American people.

Imagine what it would have been like if he had, instead, screamed and complained about the things that weren't working. Would have shaken public confidence. Gee, maybe there would have been looting and gas shortages. Go figure.

Nagin should take some cues from Giuliani. And I don't mean this to be political whatsoever; I don't even know what side of the fence Nagin is on. It's about public official's responsibilities and conduct during emergency response and recovery...JMHO.

[MomH]

I posted something many many days ago when Katrina first headed toward NO that they should allow the school bus drivers to fill their busses with evacuees and drive them out.

[FloridaHawk82]

I wondered last night about NOLA busses and why they weren't used to ferry people out of the area before the storm hit. Looks like I was right, unfortunately.

The picture of the buses is real touching, but the situation now is caused by the levee breach, not Katrina directly. What if the levee had just broke in the middle of winter and your in this exact situation. I dont care about blaming anybody for what happend, I'm blaming people for what is not happening now. Get the people out of there. It shouldn't take 5 days. Why is the Naval Hospital Ship, not scheduled to leave MD until Sunday? Harry Connick has driven to and from the Superdome, why cant they get these people out. I'll tell you why, FEMA (and that's who's job it is) can't get the logistics figured out.

dwg, with all due respect, that doesn't compute. Even a cursory overview of the studies done on the NO/Hurricane scenario shows that compromised and overtopping levees were/are the main threat. The "nightmare" scenario so clearly laid out was flooding, not wind.

The bottom line is there was a MANDATORY evac order FOR A REASON. EVERYONE had to know that there were over 100k people who were to old, sick, poor, etc. to leave on their own... In 3 days you could have bussed most of these people out.

I do wholeheartedly agree that the focus right now NEEDS to be on what to do with the tragic situation.

[photoguy]

Drive them out to where? Where should they have driven those busses before the storm? Just drop off thousands of children, sick and elderly people on the side of the road somewhere?

Even now, after all this, they can't find a place to take them.

[dwg71]

I wondered last night about NOLA busses and why they weren't used to ferry people out of the area before the storm hit. Looks like I was right, unfortunately.

The picture of the buses is real touching, but the situation now is caused by the levee breach, not Katrina directly. What if the levee had just broke in the middle of winter and your in this exact situation. I dont care about blaming anybody for what happend, I'm blaming people for what is not happening now. Get the people out of there. It shouldn't take 5 days. Why is the Naval Hospital Ship, not scheduled to leave MD until Sunday? Harry Connick has driven to and from the Superdome, why cant they get these people out. I'll tell you why, FEMA (and that's who's job it is) can't get the logistics figured out.

dwg, with all due respect, that doesn't compute. Even a cursory overview of the studies done on the NO/Hurricane scenario shows that compromised and overtopping levees were/are the main threat. The "nightmare" scenario so clearly laid out was flooding, not wind.

The bottom line is there was a MANDATORY evac order FOR A REASON. EVERYONE had to know that there were over 100k people who were to old, sick, poor, etc. to leave on their own... In 3 days you could have bussed most of these people out.

I do wholeheartedly agree that the focus right now NEEDS to be on what to do with the tragic situation.

Evacuations were ordered to too late, much of what happend was just a unavoidable, horrific tragedy, NOLA has had many near misses in the past, only to evacuate and nothing happen. Some did not take her seriously, some grew complacent, but they should not be sentenced to death because we cant organize a way to get these people out.

[baygirl_1]

Drive them out to where? Where should they have driven those busses before the storm? Just drop off thousands of children, sick and elderly people on the side of the road somewhere?

Even now, after all this, they can't find a place to take them.

Places for those being evacuated are being readied as I write this around Alabama and I'm sure elsewhere. They are preparing some unused buildings in our area to house evacuees/refugees. In addition, the local news is reporting that FEMA is planning to set up tent cities in our area. I'm a teacher and we are hearing of MANY MS and LA children enrolling in our school system. The initial logistics of getting here from SW MS and LA might be problematic as many of the roads (even the major highways) in South MS are damaged or destroyed. But, we are being told to prepare for their arrival.

[Raebie]

Drive them out to where? Where should they have driven those busses before the storm? Just drop off thousands of children, sick and elderly people on the side of the road somewhere?

Even now, after all this, they can't find a place to take them.

If that wasn't a part of their evacuation plan, then what's the point in even having one?

[birdwomn]

The levee breaches are a direct result of the storm surge that is and was predicted. We just hoped it wouldn't happen.

I hope this teaches us to work together for a more comprehensive plan...like getting ppl out on school buses, etc. AND having a place to take people out of harm's way. (obviously, this is the case of MANY cities working together...perhaps all of us that could be affected by hurricanes, for instance).

Unfortunately (because we are having to go thru it), we are learning more and more with each storm and with each hour...and we are learning that not only NOLA is vunerable, all of us that live in hurricane prone areas are also vunerable. We need to work together as communities, states, and a nation.

There are plenty of failures to go around...plenty of blame...but blame doesn't solve problems. We each should be looking to our communities to improve our collective evacuation plans. Telling people to have a hurricane kit jsut isn't enough. Sadly, we have to do this more quickly than is likely to be possible to avoid the next disaster.

[Windtalker1]

Please, please, please do not tell me that the Federal Government couldn't do anything until asked. My GOD...If I were President and saw that a CAT 4/5 storm was going to hit the most valnerable area of my country, you can bet your ass that I would of made dame sure that everything was in place, trucks fueled and filled with supplies and ready to go in as soon as the storm was over. I would not have been on Vacation at my RANCH!!!! I would have been at the White House in touch with every organization and making sure that everything was ready to go while watch the Storms impact. Better to be ready than not be ready as was the case. I am upset to be calling myself an American after watching what these people are going through when we are suspose to be the richest nation on earth. School bus drivers???? That's the stupidest thing I heard of.....there is so much more that could have been done. I said my peace, I have a right to my opinion....That is all.

[southerngale]

Drive them out to where? Where should they have driven those busses before the storm? Just drop off thousands of children, sick and elderly people on the side of the road somewhere?

Even now, after all this, they can't find a place to take them.

We had a lot of evacuees here in Beaumont before Katrina ever hit. There are still numerous churches and other shelters being opened in the area. As of yesterday, there was still room for many evacuees. Many left early, before the mandatory evacuation and they're enrolled in the Beaumont School District already.

With a few exceptions like people in wheelchairs, the elderly, sick, etc. there are THOUSANDS of people who didn't leave because they didn't want to or because they didn't want to go to the trouble of evacuating, even after they were ordered to. The news reporters were saying beforehand that they were really worried because they said SO MANY people were saying "Oh, it won't hit here...it always turns." or "The media always hypes these things." They should have listened. You just don't take that grave chance. Don't get me wrong...of course we need to help them now. I've been just sick over all this but I don't understand why there were so many people there. They were in the cone and they live in a bowl. I wouldn't even wait for someone to order me out!


For those insulting the President...gimme a break! And btw, he also WORKS from his ranch. I bet none of you take "vacations" like that. Some people will take any opportunity to bash the President. Sad.

[JamesFromMaine2]

it seems funny that now after The Hurricane hits they can find places to set up shelters outside the city so why couldn't they do that before the hurricane hit and so many ended up dieing? I feel they should have found places before the hurricane hit and bused the people, who couldn't leave on their own, out of the city! But any ways why look back and complain about things that you have no control about! Once N.O. is rebuilt they better have a better plan in place and follow it if there is a next time! I just hope next time theres a Hurricane people won't be so quick to dismiss it!

[lwg8tr]

Please, please, please do not tell me that the Federal Government couldn't do anything until asked. My GOD...If I were President and saw that a CAT 4/5 storm was going to hit the most valnerable area of my country, you can bet your arse that I would of made dame sure that everything was in place, trucks fueled and filled with supplies and ready to go in as soon as the storm was over. I would not have been on Vacation at my RANCH!!!! I would have been at the White House in touch with every organization and making sure that everything was ready to go while watch the Storms impact. Better to be ready than not be ready as was the case. I am upset to be calling myself an American after watching what these people are going through when we are suspose to be the richest nation on earth. School bus drivers???? That's the stupidest thing I heard of.....there is so much more that could have been done. I said my peace, I have a right to my opinion....That is all.

But I think someone else asked the question, how and where would you takes 100s of thousands of refugees. Too much partisan sniping going on in these threads. Republicans blaming liberal local pols in LA and Democrats blaming the President is not going to help these folks. We need to stop the bellyaching and handwrining and deal with what is and not whose fault it was. We have thousands of people in real dire straights and need open our wallets and hearts to the suffering. We can take our blame out on the politicans in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

[tndefender]

It seems to me that one thing that could have done that should have been done was to mobilize at least the National Guard and have them prepared to move into the City of New Orleans immediately after the storm. After all, we are talking about New Orleans a city with an already high crime rate in a state in which 1/2 of the children live in poverty.

I know its easy to criticize the President but I can't help but wonder if what we see happening on the Gulf would have happened if Katrina had her sights dead set on Miami or Galveston.