Why didn't they offer evacuation assistance for the poor BEFORE the storm?

[begin_within]

[jessicazi]

1. because this is George W. Bush's Amerika-

and everyone is screwed, except the rich and powerful.

[JackDragna]

10. Sadly, we here in Louisiana and the nation bear much of the blame..

..Bush is a symptom of a national tendency to demonize government, marginalize the poor and generally treat the common good like toilet paper. This has been going on ever since the "Reagan Revolution."

[MSgt213]

2. Because they are poor and no one in power really cares about them

They can't donate thousands of dollars to anyone's campaign war chest.

[Qibing Zero]

4. Exactly.

This is the question a lot of us were asking immediately.

[lildreamer316]

3. BECAUSE THEY ARE STUPID

sorry. frustration is getting to me.

[wli]

5. the answer is too horrible to say outright n/t

[izzie]

14. Because they are poor and black. I will say it for you

I wondered about that. I bet the Congress did not want to pay for the buses. This Nagin seems pretty smart to me.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. I was on here Sunday afternoon screaming about the same thing

They had 1000's of people lined up outside of the Superdome waiting to get in. I was yelling why aren't they putting these people in buses and driving them away from the evacuation zone. You wouldn't believe some of the ignorant responses and excuses that I got has to why this was impossible.

[cornermouse]

13. What about the small neighborhood schools that

have been closed to build newer, bigger schools in all the towns? Could they become temporary shelters?

[ThoughtCriminal]

7. I assume becasue FEMA had no plan to house them

anywhere.

[REP]

8. I Don't Think Anyone Believed It Would Be THIS Bad

The levees failing, the flooding, the buildings collapsing - yes, lots of people thought that could happen. I don't think anyone believed that five days after the storm, people would STILL be waiting to be rescued.

(The "anyone" in the header is rhetorical - as suspicious as I am of the government, I realize I wasn't suspicious enough, but plenty may have been.)

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Bull - they knew

This was the advisory issued on Sunday afternoon. They knew and did nothing.

WWUS74 KLIX 282139
NPWLIX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA...
...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WATCH IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS.

LAZ038-040-050-056>070-MSZ080>082-290300-
ASSUMPTION-HANCOCK-HARRISON-JACKSON-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-
LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST. BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-
ORLEANS-ST. CHARLES-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST. TAMMANY-
TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-
UPPER ST. BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-
413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT...

HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE AREA. TROPICAL STORM
FORCE WINDS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE COASTAL MARSHES AND WILL
PERSIST FOR THE NEXT 26 TO 28 HOURS. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL
ONSET AROUND MIDNIGHT NEAR THE COAST AND BY 3 AM CLOSER TO THE NEW
ORLEANS METRO AREA AND PERSIST FOR 9 TO 15 HOURS. MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS
AROUND 175 MPH ARE LIKELY IN THE WARNED AREA BY DAYBREAK MONDAY.

DO NOT VENTURE OUTDOORS ONCE TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ONSET!

$$

LAZ034>037-039-046>049-MSZ068>071-077-290300-
AMITE-ASCENSION-EAST BATON ROUGE-EAST FELICIANA-IBERVILLE-
PEARL RIVER-PIKE-POINTE COUPEE-ST. HELENA-WALTHALL-WASHINGTON-
WEST BATON ROUGE-WEST FELICIANA-WILKINSON-
413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT...

HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE AREA. TROPICAL STORM
FORCE WINDS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE COASTAL MARSHES AND WILL
SREAD NORTHWESTWARD INTO THE GREATER BATON ROUGE AREA AND
SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI LATER THIS EVENING. TROPICAL STORM FORCE
WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO ONSET AROUND 9 PM TONIGHT AND PERSIST
FOR 22 TO 26 HOURS. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL ONSET AROUND
DAYBREAK AND PERSIST FOR ABOUT 5 TO 10 HOURS. MAXIMUM WIND
GUSTS OF 80 TO 90 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN EAST-CENTRAL LOUISIANA
AND SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI.

DO NOT VENTURE OUTDOORS ONCE TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ONSET

[B Calm]

9. They are no differen't than the poor anywhere else in this country,

they fell through the cracks January 2001.

[leftchick]

11. in the pre-bush era that is what the NG was used for

I lived through a hurricane and flood in the 70s in NYS. There were literally thousands of guard in and around several affected cities HELPING PEOPLE GET OUT!!! That Is What They Do!

[fasttense]

12. They could have bussed them as easily to the Texas Super dome

before the hurricane hit.

You know that question alone makes you realize the difference between the rich and poor in this country.

If you have an emergency mandatory evacuation, you have got to make plans to evacuate the poor, sick and elderly as well as having a plan to allow the rich and middle class to flee. But I see this problem in every city not just NOL. What do the poor, sick and elderly do when a mandatory evacuation is ordered? Do you think maybe FEMA and Homeland Security should have thought about an answer before Katrina hit?