The Weather Channel implies needs for the poor.

[fearnobush]

They said "What's even more scarier then Katrina is the poor being unable to afford to leave the city and forced to go inside the dome."

If I were in charge, I would have rounded up every helicopter in the area to evacuate these folks. This storm will destroy New Orleans, and every city 100 miles east along the coast.

[shireen]

1. no can do

all money was diverted to Iraq. Freedom's on the march you know ....

[expatriot]

20. This has nothing to do with Iraq. More measures could be taken....

Requisition school buses, plead for Air National Gaurd units from other states.

[koopie57]

42. yes, there was a whole lot more that could have been done

I said this earlier, but I feel more strongly about it now. They could have made plans with the local bus companies so each company knew what area they were responsible for. There should have been a predetermined site that people knew to go to catch the bus such as a library or their polling site. There should have been a plan so the bus drivers knew which predetermined host city/destination they were to bring the evacuees. This would make it easier to locate people afterwords I think. And there should have been plans worked out with the host cities how they will care for the people when they arrive like a list of volunteers with team leaders etc. There should have been agreements with local business establishments that they bring food, generators, water, medicine to a predetermined site or even to the host city. I just think they should have had something like this prepared and undated every few years. What if part of the city needed to be evacuated quickly, a smaller scale plan would have been easy to put together. I don't know though, just seems stupid not to have thought this out a long time ago. I guess this is just MHO and a little time to blow off some steam.

[Maru Kitteh]

44. And they should have been loading up every passenger and box car

With those who were without transportation to get them OUT of the city.

The poor will be slaughtered tonight.

[lpbk2713]

48. I know you mean well but

can you imagine an old Jew being unsuspectingly herded onto a box car in the middle of the night with a lot of other strangers for a trip to who knows where. He probably wouldn't survive.

[aquart]

2. Well, if they won't care for their poor...

Shouldn't they be destroyed?

(If the Christian right is looking for a reason.....)

[GainesT1958]

3. I admire them...

They've spent so much time trying to warn people about the effects of global warming against the wacko wishes of a head-in-the-samd administration...their definace is to be applauded. Of course, they're owned by Cox Broadcasting, which is the family of James Cox. the 1920 Dem. presidential nominee (who had FDR as his running mate!) :D

B-)

[fearnobush]

18. I do admire them, they did great special on the effects of global

roasting in Alaska including the Bart beetle infestation that killed 250 million acres of spruce trees. Infestation cause by an extended breeding peroid due to warmer summers over the past 10 years.

[Spinzonner]

4. Not that effective

1. Not that many civilian helicopters

2. Cant carry many people per trip

3. Most military helicopters in Iraq - and not enough there.

[wanpete]

5. That was my first thought. * tells everyone to leave...but everyone

does not have the means to leave. Many poor people do not have access to cars. I pray for this situation. This is so scary. Glad TWC at least had the decency to mention the poor.

[daleo]

16. Bush told them to leave and is now praying for them.

To a man of his mentality, that is enough. Telling the poor to leave (an impossible task under the circumstances) absolves him and his government of any responsibility to actually help. Then praying for them...why that is just icing on the cake.

If a large death toll does result, the media will go on and on about Bush's praying and how wonderful he is for it.

[ultraist]

6. They should have loaded up buses and vans and evacuated everyone!

There is going to be hell to pay, if they housed all of those people in the Superdome and something horrible happens there.

Poor planning coupled with a lack of federal assistance makes for a very dangerous situation for those who cannot afford to get out on their own.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Forget about helicopters

buses would have been a more feasble option.

[Roland99]

14. Nothing was really feasible given the timeframe

This went from Cat 3 -> Cat 5 overnight and very quickly at that.

Models until late this weekend had it curving back toward the Panama City, FL area.

[fearnobush]

22. Not true, NOAA's 5pm advisory on FRIDAY radically shifted the path

170 miles futher west from the 11am advisory earlier in the day.

<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/KATRINA_graphics.shtml>

above, NOAA's track grafic loop histroy watch it jump from panama city to new orleans at the 5pm update of Friday Aud 26th.

THEY HAD PLENTY OF TIME.

[Roland99]

24. And it was predicted to be a Cat 5, too?

:eyes:


And ordering mandatory evacuations 3-4 days out given the erratic behavior?


Yeah....right.


fucking THINK!

[fearnobush]

26. Before you get more upset over FACTS that prove you wrong, please

for truth's sake, read the archives - yes, CAT 5 was was a possibility as early as thursday night and was even in some of the long range forcast models. Mayor Ray Nagan of NO wanted to call a manditory evac on Sat evening - He had to get approval from FEMA FIRST. They made him wait till Sunday morning.

[Roland99]

29. And that would have made exactly what difference?

80% are evacuated and the rest just didn't care enough to get out on their own.

The ones who are unable to get out are heading to shelters or being taken to shelters.

And, a possibility, 3 days out, is not reason enough to issue a mandatory evacuation of a city the size of New Orleans.

[fearnobush]

36. You said

"Models until late this weekend had it curving back toward the Panama City, FL area."

That changed 5pm friday afternoon - I'm not so sure Friday, a week day is considered "late this weekend." What concerns me most is the people in the Superdome. It was never officially rated to handle 130mi winds let alone 200.

They, Chimp boy had plenty of time to evac these folks out of the area rather than pump them in to the dome. If the ceiling collapes, it will be a blood bath.

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. Bull

They've had years to plan for this. Especially after the storms that hit last year. Everyone knew this was just a matter of time for NO.

[Roland99]

25. .

:eyes:

[DoYouEverWonder]

27. Louisiana and Homeland Security

even have a website devoted to hurricane planning. Lot's of good info, just seems their evacuation planning is lacking.


http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/hurricanerelated/hurricaneindex.htm

[Roland99]

28. I think they've done a pretty damn good job.

The mayor said about 80% were evacuated. And that's in less than 12 hours.

[DoYouEverWonder]

30. I don't consider

sending 20% of the residents to the Superdome evacuated.

[Roland99]

32. The Mayor does. He was glad it was over 60%.

And, the Superdome is built to withstand 200mph sustained winds. Katrina is only at 160mph now and the winds hitting New Orleans probably won't be over 150mph.

Flooding will be the biggest problem but the Superdome is high enough so the people won't be in danger.

[DoYouEverWonder]

33. Gee and the Twin Towers

were build to sustain direct impact from a 737. Lot of good it did those folks.

I guess we'll know by tomorrow afternoon how well the Superdome holds up. Since it is full of people at the moment, I am hoping for the best.

However, even if the building survives if New Orleans ends up under water the people in there are going to be trapped like rats on a sinking ship. Food, water and disease are going to be major problems in the days ahead.

[mountainvue]

46. The Titanic was unsinkable too. n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

45. They should have been moving people out by rail

empty box cars and all passenger trains should have been commandeered to move people out of town.

[KT2000]

8. Right to Life

OOOPS! Guess that is for sperm only.

[fearnobush]

15. Yes, they are only pro-birth - thats it.

Once your born, ah fu*k'em. Or as the fox's of the world would say - "they deserve it." it being stuck to possibly die in the dome.

[Igel]

9. Probably used to get people off the oil platforms and

out-of-the-way areas.

And once the winds kick in, you probably don't want choppers in the air.

[journalist3072]

10. Go to MSNBC.com

I posted this in another thread, but I think it bears repeating in this one as well.

On MSNBC.com, they have a photo of people filing into the Supderdome. I want everyone to look at the pic, and tell me what stands out right away. It's very obvious, unfortunately.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9108975/

[Roland99]

13. Ever been to New Orleans? It's about 70% black

Maybe moreso if you take away the tourists. ;)

[journalist3072]

17. Nope....never been there

But my prayers really go out to everyone in the hurricane's path.

I can't imagine what they must be growing through right now.

[Roland99]

19. I bet most of them aren't as worried as we are for them

;)

[Virginian]

35. I saw a picture of INSIDE the Superdome on MSNBC

and saw row after row of seniors in wheelchairs.
They were telling people they needed to bring food and water. I wonder if the seniors also had to bring their own food and water? What about refrigeration for medicine?

[journalist3072]

40. That's ludicrous

What are they thinking? If the people making their way to the Superdome are there because they cannot afford to evacuate the city, what are the chances they can afford to bring their own food and water?!

Why can't the city furnish that in some way? At the very least, are they not able to furnish the ready-meals like they have for soldiers?

[kestrel91316]

47. I saw film clips all day from the Superdome and VIRTUALLY NONE

of the people waiting in line looked like they brought water. Most had some bedding, some had coolers with food? water? But lots had only the shirt on their back. I don't think they got the message to bring several days' worth of food and water.

[nytemare]

11. Tweety asked Brian Wilson about the poor as well

He asked if those without means of transportation were being helped.

I think of those poor folks in Punta Gorda that got wiped out by Charley. They barely had any notice. Some of the old folks with their trailers just wiped out. Those pictures broke my heart.

[Thtwudbeme]

37. The Police in PG went to hotels and mobile home parks w/ZERO time left.

Ok, almost zero time left and evacuated bunches of people. Those in the two hotels downtown that wanted to stay were physically moved to vans that drove immediately south on either I-75 or US41.

Fortunately those roads are there and they weren't blocked, plus PG is a small town, only about 16,000 residents.

Sadly NO is so much larger than PG that this sort of evacuation is impossible now.

[nytemare]

41. I am glad they are safe.

It is good they helped them out.

[FloridaPat]

12. The poor here is anyone who can't afford a $150 a night hotel bill.

Indefinately. That includes most of the people I know. Unless you can go to a shelter, you either sleep in your car or pay through the nose, because every hotel within 500 miles of NO is filled right now.

[Horse with no Name]

21. New Orleans is about 6 hours from here

There isn't any reason for this at all. We have Camp Maxey here in Northeast Texas.
They have quite a few of those big transport trucks available that could have gone down there and brought those people out.
If nothing else, they could have made a refugee camp--there is plenty of land available to do that.
There was a solution to the problem if they had sought to do it.

[Roland99]

31. How many people fit on a truck? How many trucks?

6 hours each direction plus time to mobilize on the Texas side (and you have to account for the parking lot on I-10 headed west so make it about 10 hrs going back, at least)

And how long to load up each truck?


It's not feasible.

[Horse with no Name]

34. But how many transport trucks are within a 10 hour drive?

You have Camp Maxey, Red River Army Depot, Brooks Army Medical Center, Ft. Hood, et al just in Texas.
What about the installations in Alabama, Tennesee, Arkansas, etc?
This is a plan that should have been in effect.

[Scout1071]

38. They should have loaded every city and school bus in New Orleans

and headed north for the last 2 days. Take them to Red Cross Emergency shelters several hours north of the city. Have those freakin' busses running full capacity 24 hours a day evacuating. Whatever it takes. They said New Orleans could be uninhabitable for months. You have to get those people out at some point if that is true.

[Cleita]

39. There's no doubt more could have been done.

If we had a real President, I'm sure there would have been more done.

[progressivebydesign]

43. I lived near a nuclear plant, and now a volcano. You CAN plan!

Each place I've lived has had a very explicit plan to evacuate, should we need to. The government should have had a plan in place for NO a long time ago. The city is below sea level and has unique challenges and dangers. It was not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN, something like this will happen there.

Even our phone books in the nuclear plant area had explicit directions on how to evacuate. AND.. listed exact spots in each area to get to if you did not have transportation, because in the even of an emergency, they would use school buses, public buses, Nat'l guard trucks, etc. to pick you up and transport you.

The area should have had plans beyond shoving people into the superdome.

I applaud TWC for their caring of the poor. So.. do you think Bush has returned to work in D.C. yet? Or is he simply praying while he watches tv in Crawford? Actually.. what am I saying? It's probably after 10pm in Crawford. He's asleep, wanna bet?